Page 66 of Brutal Crown

La Mano Nera’s ancestral estate is hidden beneath an old chapel at the edge of town. From the outside, it looks abandoned—ivy crawling over the stone like veins. But inside… inside is where the real power sits.

We descend into the underground hall in silence, our boots echoing against cold stone. Black candles line the aisle, flickering against the high arched walls. Their flames don’t flicker. The heat is suffocating.

The air shifts the moment we step into the meeting room. Six masked figures sit around a circular stone table.

Not a word is spoken until we kneel.

No one speaks until Lux Tertius speaks. His voice is like dead leaves, dry and rustling.

“The Elders of La Mano Nera acknowledge the presence of House Romano.”

A pause. No one breathes.

“You are summoned not as equals, but as those who must account for failure. There is disorder in your house.”

My father bows his head. “We’ve taken measures to contain it.”

“We are not interested in efforts. We require results. Containment is not correction.”

Lux Tertius leans forward, just slightly. His fingers tap the stone table in a slow, deliberate rhythm—like a countdown only he can hear. When he speaks, his voice is smooth, almost elegant, but laced with something emotionless beneath it.

They don’t distort their voices this time—we’re here in real time—but the acoustics of the chamber warp the sound just enough to keep you guessing. Familiar, maybe. But distant. And almost inhuman.

“Our sources report emotional fractures within your house. Public ones. Disgraceful ones that are enough to turn whispers into weapons against us.”

He pauses, letting the words rot in the silence.

“You’ve allowed emotion to fester where there should be silence. Obedience has been replaced by spectacle. We expected better from a family of our founding blood, one with a seat among this very Council. You were meant to set the standard. Not become the example.”

The scorn is unmistakable. They’re not here to warn us. They’re here to deliver judgment and remind us how replaceable we are under their rule.

Then Sangius Quartus speaks, his voice softer but laced with contempt. I stiffen as it reaches my ears.

“A fight between brothers, in public, over a servant girl.”

No one at the ceremony knew the history behind the scene at the ceremony. No one, except someone who has been watching us for a very long time, could put the pieces together.

“We don’t tolerate such weaknesses,” Nero Primo continues. “We don’t tolerate disobedience and tainted unions.”

My heart hammers within my chest. If my union with Silvia is seen as tainted, there will be a big problem.

A fourth Elder, Umbra Quintus, speaks up. “Your house bled in front of the world. We don’t tolerate fragility.”

Nero Primo lifts something from the table. “And now, this.”

He lets it drop with a flick of his fingers.

“She is with child.”

The floor tilts beneath me. Everything spins.

Pregnant? Lia is pregnant?

I let out a shaky exhale, my heart hammering against my chest. She’s pregnant with my child,ourchild. The realization knocks the breath out of me.

This can’t be happening. No—this is bad. So fucking bad. I can’t breathe.

My hands curl into fists as I struggle to remain in the room, nails digging into my palms just to keep me grounded. But my heart—my whole goddamn soul—is already with Lia. I have to be with her. She could be in danger! Fuck.