Chapter 10 - Blood and Deception
Claire felt the ground crumble beneath her feet. The bitter taste of betrayal flooded her mouth once more, hot and suffocating.
"You're lying," Claire choked out. "He wouldn't..."
"Wouldn't he?" Julianna smirked, opening her handbag and pulling out an antique silver recorder. "Listen for yourself, sweet girl. Five years ago, in the council chambers. Right before he signed those divorce papers."
Julianna pressed play.
A burst of static filled the reinforced bunker, followed by the deep, unmistakable rumble of Vincent’s voice, cold and ruthless: *“The girl means nothing to me. If the council demands her removal to secure my seat as Don, I will discard her tonight. The Moretti bloodline will not fall for a woman.”*
The recording clicked off.
Claire felt as though an icy dagger had been driven straight through her spine. The very words that had haunted her nightmares for half a decade echoed off the steel walls. Her knees buckled, and she grabbed the edge of the table to keep from collapsing.
"He played you, Claire," Julianna whispered, circling like a vulture. "He’s playing you now. Valenti isn't attacking because of a turf war. Valenti and I are partners. Vincent killed my sister when he found out she crossed him. And now, he’s going to pay."
Before Claire could scream for the guards, Julianna pulled a small, silenced pistol from her coat.
"Don't make a sound," Julianna hissed, aiming the barrel directly at Claire’s chest. "You and that bastard child are going to walk out the rear tunnel with me. Valenti is waiting at the secondary gate. Move, or I shoot the child while she sleeps."
Claire looked at Lily, sleeping peacefully under the blanket, completely unaware that death was standing three feet away. A surge of primal, feral motherly fury exploded in Claire's chest, obliterating the heartbreak, obliterating the fear.
"Over my dead body," Claire whispered.
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With a desperate, violent lunge, Claire didn't back away—she threw the crystal water decanter from the table directly into Julianna’s face.
The glass shattered in an explosion of liquid and shards. Julianna shrieked as blood welled across her cheek, her shot firing wildly into the ceiling with a muffled *phut*.
