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Each step he took toward me mirrored the thundering beat of my heart. When he stopped just on the edge of my personal space, he finally spoke. “Give me your hand.”
I prevented my fingers from trembling by sheer force of will as I extended my right hand. My father’s arm shot out like a striking viper, and he grabbed my wrist. In one swift movement, he slashed a shallow cut across my palm.
I bit back a hiss at the sudden, shocking sting, but I stoically held his keen gaze as blood welled in my outstretched hand.
“Tonight, Maximus Ferrara, you are born again into a new life, into la cosa nostra,” he intoned with the weight of an ancient ritual. “Violate what you know about this life, betray your brothers, and you will die. Do you accept?”
My heart leapt into my throat. My father wasn’t going to kill me. He wasn’t disciplining me.
“Yes, I do,” I swore.
I was a made man. Accepted as part of the inner circle. I was more than a blood relative now; I was truly family.
My father grasped my bloody hand and pulled me toward him in a brief, firm embrace. “Don’t disappoint me, Maximus,” he warned before he pulled away.
“I won’t,” I vowed. “Thank you, Father.”
He gave me a curt nod and offered me a handkerchief. I quickly wrapped it around my hand to prevent the blood from dripping freely onto the Persian rug.
“How do you plan to gain access to Ron Fitzgerald?” he prompted. “When will the blackmail be complete?”
“Soon,” I promised. “I’ll get access to him.”
Father’s brows rose. “Through Alexandra?”
I almost growled at the sound of her name in his low, dangerous drawl. I shoved down my aggression and finished what I’d come here to do.
“Did you know that Paulie and John attacked her?” I asked. “The only reason she didn’t go running to her father is because I kept her safe. Fitzgerald would’ve destroyed our entire family if he’d found out that his daughter had been threatened by a Ferrara.”
My father’s sharp features twisted in a scowl. “I didn’t order that.”
“I know,” I said quickly. “But I want to make sure it never happens again. Allie is with me. It’s because of her that we’ll be able to blackmail Fitzgerald. No one touches her.”
His head canted to one side, studying my fierce expression. “You truly care for this girl.” It wasn’t a question.
I gave him a short nod, refusing to elaborate. Letting him know that Allie was my weakness was dangerous for us both, but I had to protect her from my cousins. I had to ensure that my father would never decide to go after her. I’d put her in my family’s crosshairs, but now I would save her from them. No one would ever harm my Allie.
After a long moment, Father nodded. “Done. No one will touch Alexandra Fitzgerald. I’ll have a word with your cousins.” The last was dark with anger.
Tension rolled off my shoulders. I’d been accepted, and my cousins were about to suffer my father’s retribution. They might be cut out of the inner circle for threatening Fitzgerald’s daughter.
I might not have to kill them, after all. Father would bring them in line.
“Let me know when it’s done,” he commanded. “I want to know once you get this recording to Fitzgerald.”
“I will.” I’d been working towards this goal for two years. I wouldn’t fail now.
I stood taller than I had since I’d first entered this awful room, and the sound of the crackling fire became white noise at the back of my consciousness.
I was no longer a failure. No longer a shameful son.
I was a worthy heir. I’d reclaimed my birthright.
Something dark and savage surged in my chest, a sense of power I’d never known before. I didn’t have to be afraid anymore. I breathed freely for the first time in years.
“That’s all.” My father tipped his chin in the direction of the door, but he didn’t sneer as he dismissed me.
I strode toward the door, drunk on the power that flooded my veins with every steady beat of my heart. I didn’t feel so much as a tingle of warning at the base of my skull when I turned my back on him.
As I walked down the corridor, my steps quickened. I could go back to Allie and promise her that she was safe. I’d ensured that she would be protected. My cousins would never dare to attack her again.
“Max.” My grandfather called after me, his heavy footsteps moving fast on the crimson carpet to close the distance between us.
I gritted my teeth and paused, not liking the delay. I wanted to get back to Allie, to have her look at me like I was her savior again. Having her wide, trusting green eyes on my scarred face felt even better than the darkly intoxicating power that flooded my system in the wake of my triumph.
