Page 130 of Fire and Silk

Marrazzi Estate, Legal Study

Her hand cracks across my face.

The force tilts my jaw, and my temple burns as I stumble sideways in the chair. The sound echoes in the wood-paneled silence, but I barely register it. My eyes find hers.

She’s standing above me. Torn black dress. Hands still bruised. Hair tangled. Eyes bloodshot and brimming. She looks like hell. She looks like fire. And she’s never looked more like my wife.

My chest tightens. I want to stand. I want to reach for her, touch her fingers, tell her it's over—she made it. But she’s already turned from me.

Her back is straight. Chin up.

“I don’t know what this is about,” she says, voice even but sharp. “But you are not taking what belongs to me that easily.”

Mina stiffens where she stands behind the table. Her hand clenches around the stem of her wine glass.

“You shameless slut,” she snaps.

Lira doesn’t even flinch. A short breath escapes her, not a sigh—laughter. Bitter and amused.

“Is that the best you’ve got?” she asks, almost bored.

Maksim steps forward beside his sister, shoulders square, jaw locked. “Stay out of this.”

She ignores him. Turns toward the two lawyers frozen near the head of the table. Her voice cuts.

“Who holds legal authority over the estate?”

The older one—Hernandez—fumbles, papers slipping from his folder. He glances toward me, then clears his throat.

“The shares and estate are held jointly,” he says cautiously. “Between Mr. Dantés and Miss Falco. No final transfer has been executed.”

Lira turns back, slow, deliberate.

She squares her shoulders. Her eyes land on Mina first, then Maksim.

“It’s me and him against you both,” she says clearly. “Try me one more time. I dare you.”

Mina’s chair scrapes the floor as she lunges.

But Lira’s faster. Her shoes scuff marble as she sidesteps and seizes Mina by the hair. Fingers tangle deep in the glossy curls and yank down, hard. Mina cries out, knees buckling. She hits the floor with a wet smack.

Before the others can react, Lira lifts her foot and kicks—right into Mina’s ribs. The thud is flat and brutal. Mina gasps, folding on herself.

Maksim curses. “You bitch—!”

He charges, suit coat swinging, his hands curled into fists.

I move before he finishes a step.

My chair crashes backward as I stand. My fist connects with the side of his face—solid, knuckle to bone. His body twistswith the blow, stumbling into the corner table. A vase shatters. Water spills across the marble.

He hits the ground. Groaning. Dazed.

Mina wheezes on her side, clutching her stomach.

I turn back to Lira.

She’s breathing hard. Her hands tremble at her sides. Her lip is cut—maybe from the struggle. Her cheeks are streaked with salt. Her fingers flex and curl again.