4

SERENA'S POV

There was a lot of tension in the air in the back of the Rolls Royce but I felt no fear at all. I looked at my reflection in the window, smoothing the fabric of the pretty black dress Matteo had brought. The girl in the glass was fierce, calm, ready, and a stranger. Dante sat beside me, like a stone statue, heavy and imposing. The silver-tipped crest of the Moretti family on the door was a silent warning to all those who had eyes on us that the true power had arrived.

"Are you ready?" Dante asked, his voice low, his golden eyes flicking toward me.

 "I've been waiting for this moment my whole life," I replied, my voice steady. Dante's golden eyes flicked to me, his voice low.

The car came to a screeching halt in front of Grand Imperial Banquet Hall. The cameras of the paparazzi outside clicked, lighting up the night with a storm of white sparks. Nico was having a second night of celebrations his ego was always too big for one party.  The hall was packed to the rafters with every major investor, socialite and hungry reporter in town, all of them gossiping about where I had gone.

We stepped out. The crowd's roar fell to a confused and nervous hum. I took Dante by the arm. His muscles were stiff but when our skin touched I felt the familiar tug, I focused on his meridian points, keeping the noise in his head quiet.

‘Just walk,’ he whispered. Look away from them. "Look at me."

We headed for the great staircase. I could hear Nico’s voice coming through the speakers in the hall. He played the devastated, heartbroken fiance in a pitiful way.

"I just... I just don't know where she went." Nico said, his voice thick with fake sadness. “She's always been a little off, you know? I'm so scared, my poor Serena is out there somewhere, lost and scared."

And then I heard Giada chime in with a voice dripping with poison: "Oh, you poor dear. If anyone has seen my sister please bring her home. She's breaking down, you can tell."

I could feel the ghost of a smile on my lips. A breakdown, Giada?  You don't know.

Dante and I climbed up the great staircase. The great double doors swung open. The silence that settled over the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

 Dante, in his charcoal suit, looked like a demon, his silver hair shining like a crown. I held my chin high, the big diamond on my finger flashing like a warning light under the crystal chandeliers.

We went down the stairs without a word. Each step we took echoed on the marble floor. Below us the sea of people parted like water.

Nico stood towards the center of the hall, drink in hand. He looked up, and the champagne flute dropped from his fingers. It hit the marble with a violent, shattering crack that echoed through the whole room. 

"Uncle?" Nico stammered, his face going a sickly gray. He stepped forward, eyes flashing to mine in shock and hunger.

 “Serena? "You... you are here?

He stretched out a hand, trembling as he tried to seize my arm.

Dante didn't yell. He didn't yell. He just came between us, his huge body blocking Nico’s path like a wall of stone.

"Touch her," Dante said, low and calm and terrifyingly cold, "and you'll lose that hand."

Nico froze, catching his breath. His eyes flicked between Dante and me, confusion giving way to sheer panic.

I stepped forward, stepping into the light. I held up my hand on purpose, so the great diamond would catch the glow of the chandelier. That ring. All eyes in the room on that ring.

"Nico, you really should stop." My voice cut through the silence like a blade. "We can’t get married. That would be incest.”

A ripple of gasps went through the crowd. People started whispering, their voices rising in a confused buzz. Nico’s mouth fell open.

"What- what's this?" he stammered.

Dante came up beside me, his hand on my waist, firm. “Serena is my fiancée,” he said, his voice booming through the hall. “We finished our engagement this morning."

The room exploded. Reporters were scribbling, cameras were clicking, and the socialites were looking in shock. Nico’s face went from gray to a bright, angry red.

 “Fiancée?” Nico growled, his fear turning to rage at last. "Uncle, you're serious? This is bullshit! She's a low-class country hick who thinks she has a place!"

The temperature in the room appeared to drop ten degrees. The air was getting hard to breathe. Dante didn't look angry, he looked like a god passing judgement. Slowly he turned his head, looking at his nephew.

Dante's voice fell to a dangerous whisper. "You are talking about the future matriarch of the Moretti family. Kneel down. And seek forgiveness.”

Nico was standing there, chest heaving. "I shall not! She’s a liar and a—”

 “Kneel,” Dante repeated.

The name Moretti hung over the room like the weight of. Absolute hierarchy existed in this family. Every line of the bloodline, life and death, was Dante’s to control. Dante cut Nico loose, he wouldn't just be out of a job, he'd be on the streets by morning, penniless and stripped of his name.

Nico looked around, seeking support. He glanced at Giada, eyes meeting, searching for a sign, an ally, anything.

Giada's face turned white. She stepped back slowly, her eyes flicking away. She wouldn't even glance at him. She knew when a ship was going down, and she was already going over the side.

Nico’s knees gave way. This was not a decision. This was gravity. He threw himself down on the cold marble floor. His expensive trousers hit the stone with a loud thud in the silence.

"I'm sorry," Nico choked out, his voice quivering as he forced the words through his gritted teeth. He didn’t look at me, he looked at the ground. 

"Serena... Aunt."

I looked at him. This was the man that had ruined my life. The man who had looked on with a cold smile as they dragged me into the dark. I waited for the fire of vengeance or at the least the cold burn of hatred.

But there was not.

No love.  There is no hate. Sure thing. The cold, distant satisfaction of seeing a bug get crushed by a boot. He was just a little, nothing thing that had hurt me once. He was nothing now.

I leaned into Dante's shoulder, feeling the strength in him, and smiled down at the man who had tried to ruin me. 

"Get up, Nico," I said, my voice light and bored. "Wipe away your tears. You are spoiling the party."