Baptism in Blood

Castellano Estate – 6:00 AM

Belle's fingers curled around the black box.

The severed finger inside was a warning. A reminder.

Giovanni was watching.

She set the box down and stood, her pulse steady despite the unease creeping up her spine.

She had made her move.

Now, Giovanni was forcing her next one.

A soft knock at the door.

"Come in."

The door creaked open, and Dante stepped inside, already dressed for war.

Black suit. Polished shoes. Gun holstered at his waist.

His eyes landed on the box immediately.

His smirk was slow. Unimpressed.

"Giovanni's always been dramatic."

Belle met his gaze.

"He's making a point."

Dante exhaled, stepping closer. "That you still belong to him?"

Belle's jaw clenched.

"That he can still control me."

Dante tilted his head, studying her.

"And can he?"

Belle didn't answer immediately.

Because she didn't know.

She had spent years trapped in the space between Giovanni's world and her own.

A double life.

But now, she had to choose.

---

An Offer of Power

Dante turned to the window, rolling his cigarette between his fingers.

"You said you wanted power."

Belle remained silent.

"Then take it." He flicked the lighter, the flame casting shadows across his sharp features. "Make your first kill. Not as my pawn. Not as my bride."

He looked at her. Challenging. Testing.

"Make it as my queen."

Belle's stomach twisted.

Dante had given her an out before. He had let her decide with Luca.

But this time?

There was no choice.

Belle exhaled. She had always known this moment would come.

Her first real kill.

Not a necessity.

Not survival.

A message.

"Who?" she asked, her voice steady.

Dante's smirk was slow, satisfied.

"Someone close to Giovanni."

He tossed a file onto the bed.

Belle reached for it, flipping it open.

The photograph made her blood go cold.

Serena Moretti.

Luca's younger sister.

---

The Price of a Queen

Belle gripped the edges of the folder, heart pounding.

"She's innocent."

Dante raised an eyebrow. "So were you, once."

Belle's throat tightened.

Serena was only nineteen.

Not a soldier. Not a threat.

But her death would send a message.

If Belle did this, she wasn't just choosing Dante.

She was cutting ties with her past.

She was making a declaration:

"I am not Giovanni's anymore."

Dante moved closer, his presence overwhelming.

"Do this, sweetheart, and there's no going back."

Belle lifted her gaze.

She had spent years caught in the war between two kings.

But now?

She was ready to be a queen.

Belle shut the folder.

"Tell me where she'll be."