Chapter 3

The banquet was over.

Grandfather had spoken. Nobody dared argue.

Renato and Nico were dragged out of the hall by the guards.

I didn't give them a second to breathe.

I headed straight for the third floor with a crew at my back. That room used to be mine. Then Renato decided Celeste "needed the sunniest room to recover" and handed it over.

I kicked the French doors open.

Inside, Celeste was on the sofa crying. Renato and Nico were scrambling around trying to comfort her.

When she saw me walk in with a dozen armed men, Celeste screamed and burrowed into Nico's arms.

"Val! What more do you want?!" Nico yelled. "Father's already been removed! We're leaving! Do you really have to go this far?"

I didn't even look at him. Just waved at my men.

"Everything in this room that belongs to her. Take it out. Every last piece."

"Yes, ma'am!"

They stormed the walk-in closet.

"What are you doing?! Don't touch my things!" Celeste threw herself at them but got shoved straight to the floor.

Her limited-edition Hermès bags. Her Chanel couture. Her Cartier jewelry. All of it got tossed into boxes and carried downstairs like garbage.

"That's my favorite dress! Don't wrinkle it! That diamond necklace was a gift from Nico!"

She screamed and grabbed at the air, but all she could do was watch as the closet was stripped bare.

Renato jabbed a finger at me, veins popping. "Val, this is too far! Those are Celeste's personal belongings!"

"Personal belongings?" I stepped up to him. "She's an adopted outsider without a cent to her name. Every single thing in here was bought with the trust fund my mother left behind. I'm just taking back what's mine."

He had nothing to say. His face turned purple.

The room was cleaned out in minutes. I had my men march all three of them out to the front lawn.

In the middle of the grass, a small mountain of designer bags, couture gowns, and jewels had already been piled up.

Celeste saw it and lost it. She thrashed against the guards holding her. "Val! What are you going to do! Give them back! I'll pay you back, okay? I'll pay for all of it!"

"Pay me back?" I looked at her. "With what?"

I took a canister of gasoline from one of my men and dumped the whole thing over the pile. The smell hit instantly.

"No! Please!" Celeste's voice cracked. Her eyes were locked on the heap.

Nico charged toward me. "Val, don't you dare! You're out of your—"

A guard slammed a rifle butt into his back and pinned him face-first into the grass.

I pulled out a Zippo and flicked it open.

"Remember this. When something was never yours, it doesn't matter if you wore it every day. You're still trash."

I let go.

The whole pile went up at once.

"My bags! My necklace!"

Celeste screamed once, then her eyes rolled back and she dropped.

Renato and Nico watched it burn. Nothing in their eyes but hate.

"Get out of my sight. Don't let me catch any of you on Corsetti territory again. Next time, it won't be clothes."

The guards hauled Nico to his feet. He stared me down, jaw clenched, and ground out every word.

"Val. Don't get too comfortable. You think Grandfather can protect you forever? Just you wait."

I watched them go.

Come back swinging. I'll be ready.