The Proxy He Stole

Chapter 3 The Stripped Proxy

By the following morning, the council was in panic.

The entire Moretti council crowded into the grand hall. My overnight lockdown had stranded shipments, cut off payments, and given all five families a reason to question Adrian.

Adrian stood on the dais and tried to look in control. Every few seconds, another phone vibrated with bad news.

Then he looked toward the back of the room, where I was standing.

“As you know, our operations have faced a temporary disruption.” Adrian raised a data slate. I recognized the precise layout and every clause on it. He was reading from the *Cerberus Protocol*, the emergency plan I had written years ago to consolidate power during an internal betrayal.

He had changed the name of the alleged traitor to mine.

“Due to recent events and her clear emotional instability, I am invoking Section Three. For the security of the Moretti family, I am temporarily revoking Evangeline Bellini's proxy over all family assets.”

Several capos turned in their seats. Adrian had just claimed the authority to remove me from an empire financed and designed by the Bellinis.

Adrian lowered the slate. “In honor of my fallen brother Rico, I am also taking his son, Leo, as my ward. He and his mother will have the protection of the Moretti name.”

In the front row, Chloe pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh, Adrian. You're too good to us. We don't deserve this.” The capos nearest her heard every word.

One of them looked away.

Adrian found me at the back again and waited. His raised chin and open hand made the offer plain: apologize in front of the council, and he might reduce the punishment.

I stepped away from the wall.

The first row shifted to let me through.

The whispers stopped while I crossed the marble floor. I walked onto the dais and stood beside Adrian.

His hand tightened around the data slate.

I removed the heavy black onyx signet ring from my finger. The Bellini crest cut into its face marked the real source of my authority, a master key that could bypass every protocol. Adrian had wanted it for six years.

I held it over the whiskey at his elbow and let go.

The ring struck the glass with a small *plink* and sank.

“You wanted my power, Adrian. You and your rats can watch the empire sink from the bottom of that glass.”

I left the dais. My personal guards fell in behind me, and no one tried to stop us before we reached the armored sedan outside.

On the way to the runway, an encrypted message reached my phone from an unfamiliar number. I knew who had sent it.

*My Queen, the throne has been swept clean. Awaiting your arrival.*

My private jet was already fueled for London.