MATTEO
The house reeked of iron and betrayal…a scent that clung to my skin like a second layer of filth. But as I neared the dining hall, the metallic tang of blood was drowned out by something far more offensive: laughter.
Loud, boisterous, and utterly unearned.
I walked in to find them…Alessandro, Marco, and Luca…crowded around the table with Alessandro's latest plaything. They were eating and drinking as if the basement wasn't currently a mass grave, as if Luca hadn't just sabotaged our entire operation.
Then, she looked up. Seris.
She was the first to sense me. Her laughter died instantly, replaced by a chilling, hollow stare that felt like a physical taunt. She didn't need to speak; her silence screamed that she had won. I'd never been welcoming to her, but this was beyond a breach of privacy. She was a parasite, a potential plant, and she was sitting at our table like a queen.
"Matteo," a heavy arm draped over my shoulder, nearly making me snap. It was Marco. He felt the vibration of my rage and quickly pulled back, sensing I was seconds away from a homicide. "Still angry, then," he muttered.
"Come join us," Marco continued, trying to play peacemaker. "I'll have the maids bring something out for you."
My eyes never left the girl. I pointed a finger directly at her, my voice a jagged blade. "What is she still doing here, Alessandro?"
The table went silent. Alessandro set his glass down slowly and stood up, his height meant to intimidate. "She's mine. I decide when she leaves."
I let out a long, exhausted sigh. I was drained, vibrating with a need for violence I was struggling to suppress. "I thought this was a one-night arrangement. You're actually keeping this... thing around?" I gestured toward her with pure vitriol.
"Careful, brother," Alessandro warned, his eyes darkening. "You won't speak of her in that manner."
I chuckled, shaking my head at the absurdity. "I don't have time for this. I'm leaving." I turned to walk out, needing air that didn't smell like her perfume or their stupidity.
"Father said we should stick together for the time being," Marco's voice stopped me cold.
I spun around, my face twisted in disgust. "What?"
"The old man has issued a decree," Marco continued, looking just as annoyed as I felt. "He wants us to 'understand the importance of brotherhood.' Some bullshit about a legacy being left to fools who hate each other."
"What the fuck does that even mean?" I demanded.
"It means," Alessandro stepped in, "that whichever mansion we choose, the four of us stay together. 24/7. No exceptions."
I burst into a dark, hysterical laugh. "Yeah, keep telling yourselves that joke. I'm out."
"It's not a joke," Luca piped up.
I stopped. My jaw tightened. He was the very last person who should be opening his mouth. "I told Father everything that happened today," he said, and the realization hit me like a sledgehammer.
"What the fuck did you just say?" I marched toward him, expecting him to flinch. But he didn't. Usually, Luca quivered in my presence, but now he stood his ground, matching me eye-to-eye.
"Father was fucking proud," he sneered, a sickening, arrogant smirk spreading across his face. "Mama was incredibly proud, too."
He stepped closer, emboldened by whatever was in his system or the girl in the room. "It got me thinking... why did I even feel guilty? Those men deserved death. Since you couldn't do the job, I did it myself. Even the one you shot…you intentionally hit a safe spot. That wasn't strategy, Matteo. That was a pathetic act of fear."
"It's not fear, you localized fool," I hissed, my face inches from his. "You don't have to kill someone to make them fear you. Killing them just proves you're too weak to control them. You're fucking weak, Luca."
"Whatever you say, 'Good Boy' Matteo," he mocked.
"Don't you fucking call me that!"
We were chest-to-chest, ready to tear each other apart, before Marco rushed in to shove us apart. "This is exactly why Father is punishing us! Because you two can't be in a room for five minutes without trying to spill Ricci blood! Is it so hard to just look the other way?"
"Fuck this," I muttered, turning my back on all of them.
"And just so you know," Alessandro called out, his voice echoing in the hall, "She's staying."
"Yeah," Luca added, his voice dripping with newfound malice. "I've grown quite fond of her myself."
I turned one last time to see Seris. She was watching the fallout with a predatory grace. When our eyes met, her polite smile vanished, replaced by a slow, triumphant smirk that told me everything I needed to know.