The Blood Contract

Alessandro’s grip on my arm was like an iron shackle. He didn’t wait for me to process the news about Bianca. He dragged me out of the room, my wedding dress trailing behind me like a broken wing.

"Wait! You’re hurting me!" I cried out.

He didn’t slow down. "Pain is the only thing your family understands, Serena. Your sister is currently in the arms of the man who tried to put a bullet in my head last month. Do you understand what that means for you?"

"I didn't know!" I screamed, my voice cracking. "I haven't spoken to her in weeks! She treats me like a servant, not a sister!"

We reached his office. He threw the door open and shoved me inside. He didn't turn on the main lights. The only glow came from a row of computer monitors on his desk. He pointed at one of them. It showed a grainy thermal image of a car speeding across a bridge.

"That is a Vitelli armored transport," Alessandro hissed. "And my scouts just confirmed Bianca is in the back seat. She didn't just run from a wedding. She handed my enemy every secret she stole from my father's files during their engagement."

I felt the air leave my lungs. Bianca wasn't just a runaway; she was a traitor. And I was the one left holding the bill for her crimes.

"What do you want from me?" I whispered, clutching the falling silk of my dress to my chest.

Alessandro walked behind his desk and pulled out a heavy silver revolver. My heart skipped a beat. Was he going to kill me now? Was this how it ended?

He didn't point it at me. Instead, he laid it on the desk between us. Next to it, he placed a burner phone.

"You’re going to call her," he commanded.

"She won't answer me," I said. "She never does."

"She will answer if she thinks you’re dying," Alessandro said, his voice cold and flat. "You are going to tell her that I am torturing you. You are going to tell her that if she doesn't meet you at the old chapel on the border in two hours, I will send your head to her in a box."

Horror washed over me. "I can't lie like that. She’s my sister!"

Alessandro stepped around the desk. He was so close I could smell the gunpowder and expensive cologne on his skin. He reached out and touched the bruise on my cheek where my father had hit me earlier. His touch was surprisingly gentle, but his words were poisonous.

"She left you here to die, Serena. She knew exactly what I would do to a De Luca bride who lied to me. She didn't care about your life. Why do you care about her freedom?"

I looked down at the gun. He was right. Bianca had always been the center of the world. She had taken the best clothes, the best food, and the only love our father had to give. And when things got dangerous, she had used me as a human shield.

"If I do this... if I help you get her back... what happens to me?" I asked.

"You stay here," Alessandro said. "You play the role of my wife until the Vitellis are crushed. Then, and only then, will I decide if you are worth keeping."

"And if I refuse?"

Alessandro picked up the gun. He checked the chamber with a sickening click. "Then I don't need a hostage anymore. I’ll just start the war tonight by dumping your body on the Vitelli doorstep."

He pushed the phone toward me. "Choose, Serena. Life as my queen, or death as a De Luca."

I looked at the phone. My fingers shook as I picked it up. I hated them. I hated my father for selling me. I hated Bianca for leaving me. And I hated Alessandro for making me a monster just like him.

But I wanted to live. I wanted to see Bianca’s face when she realized she couldn't outrun her shadows.

I dialed the number. It rang three times before a sharp, annoyed voice answered.

"Serena? Why the hell are you calling me? I told you never to use this line."

I looked at Alessandro. He was watching me like a hawk. I forced a sob into my throat, a real one born from the terror in my gut.

"Bianca... please," I choked out. "He knows. Alessandro knows everything. He’s... he’s hurting me, Bianca. There’s so much blood. He says if you don’t come to the chapel... he’s going to kill me."

There was a long silence on the other end. I held my breath.

"Tell him to go to hell," Bianca snapped. "You were always the lucky one, Serena. You got the mansion. I got freedom. Deal with it."

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone, my heart breaking into a thousand pieces. She didn't care. Even with my life on the line, she didn't care.

Alessandro took the phone from my hand. He looked at the screen, then back at me. I expected him to be angry, but he looked almost... satisfied.

"Now you know," he said softly. "There is no one left to save you but me."

"She didn't come," I whispered, the tears finally spilling over. "She let me die."

"She thinks she did," Alessandro said. He grabbed his jacket and tucked the gun into his waistband. "But she made a mistake. She forgot that I have trackers on every De Luca phone. I didn't need her to say yes. I just needed her to stay on the line long enough to find her location."

He walked toward the door, then stopped and looked at me. "Get up, Serena. Put on something black. We’re going hunting."

"You want me to go with you?" I gasped.

"You’re the only one who can get close enough to pull the trigger," he said.

He threw a small, sleek dagger onto the desk. It slid across the wood and stopped right in front of my hand.

"The Vitellis are throwing a celebration for her arrival tonight. You’re going to walk into that party as my widow. And you’re going to put that blade in Marco Vitelli’s heart."

I stared at the knife. "I’ve never killed anyone."

"Then tonight is a big night for both of us," Alessandro said, a dark smile touching his lips. "Because tonight, you become a Moretti."

Just then, a loud explosion rocked the estate. The windows shattered, and the sound of heavy gunfire erupted from the front gates.

"They're here," Alessandro hissed, pulling me behind him. "The war didn't wait for us."