Chapter 7 - THE BRIDE WHO REFUSED TO BOW
Derek's death should have made me feel something simple.
Grief.
Anger.
Relief.
Instead, I felt nothing.
Not because I had stopped being human.
Because the man I once loved had become a stranger long before someone killed him.
Gio showed us the police photographs.
Derek had been found inside his car near the river.
A single gunshot wound.
No weapon.
No witnesses.
The dashboard had been scratched with three words.
VIOLET IS NEXT.
My mother took my hand.
“We have to disappear.”
I shook my head.
“I spent eighteen years waiting for answers. I'm not running now.”
“Violet—”
“No.”
I looked at Vincenzo.
“Can you protect me?”
He hesitated.
Then he said, “Yes.”
My mother turned away in disgust.
I raised my hand.
“But I won't marry you.”
Vincenzo went still.
“The agreement is over,” I said. “No wedding. No inheritance. No business deal.”
He nodded.
“Understood.”
“You won't stop helping?”
“No.”
“Why?”
He looked at me for a long moment.
“Because somewhere between trying to protect you and watching you fight for yourself, I stopped thinking of you as part of a deal.”
My heart betrayed me with a painful little twist.
But I refused to let it show.
“Then prove it.”
The next day, I walked into DeLuca Maritime's headquarters.
The building stood along the Chicago River, all steel and glass.
I wore a black suit I had bought with my own money.
My mother's necklace rested beneath my blouse.
Vincenzo and Gio followed several steps behind me.
Inside the boardroom, twelve executives were waiting.
At the head of the table sat Luca Mercante.
Beside him was Monica.
And across from them sat a man I had seen only in photographs.
Elijah Robbie.
He smiled when I entered.
“Well,” he said. “The lost princess finally arrives.”
I looked at Luca.
“You knew I was alive.”
He spread his hands.
“Of course.”
“You knew who my mother was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Derek sold me.”
Luca's smile faded.
Vincenzo stepped forward.
“Careful, Uncle.”
Luca ignored him.
“Miss Anderson, this is a business meeting.”
“My name is Violet DeLuca.”
The room went silent.
I placed a certified copy of my birth certificate on the table.
Then a document from the trust attorney.
Then the original incorporation agreement.
“I own forty percent of this company.”
One executive cleared his throat.
“Miss DeLuca, those shares have been dormant for years.”
“Not anymore.”
Luca leaned back.
“You don't understand what you're doing.”
“I understand perfectly.”
I looked at the men around the table.
“My father built this company. You used his death to take control of it. That ends today.”
Elijah laughed.
“You're a waitress.”
I turned toward him.
“And you're sitting in a boardroom you don't own.”
His smile disappeared.
Monica stood.
“This is ridiculous.”
I looked at her.
“You seem upset.”
She stepped closer.
“You have no idea how dangerous these men are.”
“Then perhaps you should stop working with them.”
Her eyes flashed.
Luca slammed his hand on the table.
“Enough!”
I didn't flinch.
“You don't get to silence me.”
Vincenzo watched from the doorway.
For once, he wasn't the most powerful person in the room.
And judging by the look in his eyes, he didn't mind.
The meeting ended without a vote.
The board demanded independent verification of my documents.
Luca threatened litigation.
Elijah threatened something less legal.
I walked out with my head high.
But the moment the elevator doors closed, my legs weakened.
Vincenzo caught my elbow.
“You did well.”
“I was terrified.”
“I know.”
“You could tell?”
“Only because I was standing close enough to feel your hands shaking.”
I looked at him.
“You didn't interfere.”
“You didn't need me to.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then the elevator stopped.
The lights flickered.
A voice came through the emergency speaker.
“Good afternoon, Miss DeLuca.”
I froze.
Vincenzo reached for his gun.
The voice continued.
“Your mother should have stayed dead.”
A metallic click sounded above us.
Gio looked up.
“Boss—”
The elevator dropped.
I screamed.
Vincenzo wrapped both arms around me as the floor vanished beneath our feet.
Then the emergency brakes caught.
The impact threw us to the ground.
Pain shot through my shoulder.
Darkness swallowed the cabin.
For several seconds, all I could hear was our breathing.
“Violet?” Vincenzo whispered.
“I'm here.”
“Are you hurt?”
“My shoulder.”
He pulled me against him.
“Stay still.”
Then a new sound came from above.
Metal scraping.
Someone was opening the emergency hatch.
Gio raised his gun.
A flashlight appeared.
Then a voice called down.
“Don't shoot!”
It was a woman.
My mother's voice.
“Violet!”
“Mom?”
Her face appeared above the opening.
But she wasn't alone.
A man stood behind her.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
His face marked by an old burn scar.
He looked down at Vincenzo.
Then at me.
My mother began crying.
“Sweetheart,” she whispered, “there's someone you need to meet.”
The stranger lowered his flashlight.
His eyes were the same blue as mine.
May you like
“My name is Adrian DeLuca,” he said.
“And I'm your father.”
