Crown Of The Underworld

Chapter Three

Under watch

I woke to the sound of rain tapping against the window.

The room was still dark, the fire long dead, and the silence pressed against the walls. I had barely slept.

The doorknob turning. The footsteps in the hallway. Lorenzo's warning echoing in my ears.

Always lock your doors.

I sat up slowly, my muscles aching from tension. The black box was still on the desk where I had left it, the note still unfolded beside it. I walked over and picked up the bullet, turning it over in my hand.

364 days.

Someone was counting down the days until I died.

I dressed quickly, my fingers fumbling with the buttons of my dress. I grabbed the black box from the desk and tucked it beneath my arm before leaving the room, the weight of it a constant reminder of what I was walking into.

Two guards stood outside my door exactly where they had been the night before, both wearing empty expressions.

They straightened the moment they saw me.

"Good morning, Don."

I answered them with a question.

"Did either of you notice anything last night?"

The guard on the left shook his head. "No, ma'am. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

I almost asked if they had seen a black box. But if one of them had left the box, warning them would be the worst mistake I could make.

Without a word, I walked past them. There was only one person in this house I trusted enough to show it to.

Lorenzo.

I found him in the study an hour later, reading through a stack of reports.

He looked up as I entered, his gaze dropped to the black box tucked beneath my arm.

"Show me."

I placed it on the desk and lifted the lid.

Inside lay the bullet beside the folded note. He picked up the bullet, turning it over between his fingers, but his face revealed nothing.

Then he pressed a button on the intercom.

"Send the head of security to the study. Now."

Less than a minute later, a gray-haired man hurried into the room. Lorenzo held up the bullet.

"Explain."

The head of security swallowed. "We didn't see anyone, sir."

Lorenzo's eyes narrowed. "Then explain how someone delivered this."

The man's face paled. "Every camera covering the Don's hallway went black for exactly forty-three seconds."

Silence settled over the room. A cold knot tightened beneath my ribs. Someone hadn't just threatened me. They had planned it.

Lorenzo placed the bullet back inside the box and closed the lid.

"No one enters or leaves this estate until I know how someone reached the Don's door."

"Yes, sir."

The head of security hurried out.

I looked at Lorenzo. "Who do you think did it?"

He met my gaze. "Someone who wants you dead."

"That doesn't narrow it down."

"No." His voice was calm. "In this family, that list is long."

He turned and walked out, already issuing orders to the guards outside.

I stood alone in the study, staring at the black box.

For the first time since the reading of the will… I understood something terrifying.

The De Luca estate wasn't the safest place in the city. It was the most dangerous.

---

Breakfast was a nightmare.

The five adopted brothers sat around the long table, their eyes fixed on me as I walked in. The room felt smaller than it had the night before. The silence was heavier.

Marco was already eating, as if he didn't have a single worry in the world. He looked up as I sat down, a smile spreading across his face.

"You look tired, Valentina."

I didn't answer.

"I heard someone left you a gift last night." He picked up his coffee and took a slow sip. "A bullet, was it?"

I held his gaze. "You knew about it."

He set down his coffee and leaned back in his chair. "Of course I knew about it. I know everything that happens in this house."

"Did you leave it?"

He smiled, it was a deliberate smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"You know what I find amusing?"

I said nothing.

Marco leaned closer. "Whoever left that bullet got to you before your own guards did."

He pushed his chair back and stood up.

"If I were you, I wouldn't sleep at all."

He walked out of the room.

I didn't let him see me react until he disappeared through the doorway. Only then did I realize my nails had dug so deeply into my palm that they had drawn blood.

That afternoon, Lorenzo threw me into my first lesson.

"A shipment is missing," he said, sliding a folder across the desk. "Two captains are refusing to accept your authority. They believe you're weak."

I opened the folder. The information was detailed: names, locations, numbers. I read through it twice.

"What do I do?"

"What do you think you should do?"

I stared at the pages. "Call them in and face them."

He nodded once. "Good."

I called the captains into the study. They arrived looking bored, dismissive, expecting a weak woman who would back down. The first one laughed.

"You're giving orders?"

I calmly opened the file.

"Shipment 47."

His smile faded.

"You sold half the weapons before they reached Naples."

He stared at me. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

"You're going to fix it," I said. "And then you're going to explain to me why I shouldn't have you killed."

The two captains exchanged uneasy glances before giving a stiff nod.

"Understood, Don."

They turned and left and when the door closed behind them, Lorenzo appeared in the doorway.

"Your father would've handled it differently."

I looked up at him. "How?"

"He would've killed them."

I set the folder down. "Is that what you would have done?"

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I would've."

His gaze held mine for a beat. "But that's why they need you.”

"You made them fear the consequences, not the gun. That's harder to forget.”

-----

That night, I returned to my room and checked the calendar on my desk.

Day 1 of 365.

I opened the drawer to put the folder away but found another black card.

I froze. My fingers trembled as I picked it up.

Inside was a photograph. It was me.

Someone had taken it that morning while I sat at the breakfast table and I hadn't even noticed.

A crimson streak slashed across the photograph, cutting through my face like spilled blood.

My fingers trembled as I turned it over.

DAY TWO

Congratulations. You survived breakfast.

Tomorrow, the bullet won't miss.

The handwriting was the same.

I looked toward the door. It was still locked, the deadbolt in place exactly as I had left it.

I checked the windows. Both were sealed, the locks undisturbed.

Slowly, I lowered my gaze to the card in my hand.

How did it get in?

And who put it there?