Page 135 of Brutal Crown

I feel it before I hear the door open. A shift in the air, like gravity reorienting. My fingers curl around the edge of the bed. Dante turns, but doesn’t flinch.

Footsteps cross the room, slow and measured.

A man steps into the light.

My breath catches.

He looks just like his brothers. His features are younger, and his movements are softer and slower than those of his brothers,but his eyes are the hardest. He has the same sharp-cut jawline as Francesco, the same haunted stillness, but layered with something deeper.

Shadows. Secrets. Grief.

He’s tall, his dark hair pushed back, and a scar at the corner of his brow. His gaze meets mine and holds.

“This is Lorenzo,” Dante announces.

I notice a small smirk pull at the corner of his lips, but it disappears almost immediately.

“I see you’re the girl who made two of my brothers go crazy.”

My mind reels with all the information and revelations I’ve received in this short span of time. I glance between the two of them, stunned silent.

“Why are you telling me all this now?”

“Because you need to understand the full picture. We’ve been planning this takeover for months, and you’re a big part of it. You’remyfinal reckoning, my chance to right all my wrongs.”

“Who else knows about this… plan of yours?”

“Marco is in on it. We’ve kept Elio out of it for now. We will tell him everything later. Let’s just say he’s the most fearless out of everyone. He fears nothing, even death. He could walk right into his own grave just to make sure we win.”

My chest tightens. “And Francesco?”

“He’s the most important person we need,” Lorenzo speaks up. “Francesco is planning to burn the whole thing down. He wants to take on the Society. We’ve been watching all his movements and suspicions. He’s reckless and impulsive, but also necessary for this plan to move forward. He has all the answers and leverage to take them down but we haven’t exactly let him in on everything just yet.”

“He needs our support and added strategy,” Dante adds. “He’s been doing everything on his own, but with the three ofus supporting him, he’ll be more dangerous than they’ve ever imagined.”

“And what happens to me while all this is going on?” I ask, pressing a hand protectively against my stomach. “What if they find me? I’m sure they’re still searching for me after your men took me.”

“They were never going to kill you,” he says, voice low. “Quite the opposite.”

I freeze.

“The Elders want the child. You’re valuable to them—but only as long as they can control you. The moment they had you in their grip, it would’ve been over. You’d be watched. Locked down. Stripped of every choice.”

He leans in, voice tighter now.

“So I staged your death.”

“What do you mean?”

“They think you were taken from the estate. That someone intercepted you before the Elders could make their decision. They think it was an attack—driven by believers who see your child as the end of the Society’s reign, the beginning of its extinction.”

He exhales.

“I gave my original crew a substitute—a body burned beyond recognition. A few hours later, they found it in a remote industrial park.”

My heart lurches.

“I made sure your medallion was there. The one you wore during the ceremony. Just enough to identify you.”