Page 68 of The Scars We Keep
I don’t see it coming.
One second he’s standing there, polished menace and expensive cruelty.
The next, his hand is on me.
His fingers clamp around my jaw, and he pulls me forward so fast that my breath snags in my throat.Pain shoots across my face and my teeth knock together with a sick little crack.The room tilts for a second, not enough to knock me off balance, but just enough to remind me how quickly men like Luca can turn violence into punctuation.
A sound catches in my chest, but I swallow it before it can become anything as weak as a cry.
His grip is brutal.Controlled.Every finger digs in with purpose, pressing hard enough to hurt and even harder to remind me he can.His thumb bites into one side of my face while the rest of his hand clamps down on my chin, forcing my head up until I have no choice but to look him in the eye.
“You hear everything,” he says, each word sliding over my skin with the cold edge of a blade.“You always have.Father knows it.I fucking know it.So don’t stand here and insult me with that innocent little act.”
I grab his wrist on instinct, my nails sinking into his skin hard enough that I know I am leaving marks.
He doesn’t even flinch.If anything, his grip tightens.
A sharper burst of pain cuts through my face, hot enough to make my eyes sting.Tears threaten to spill, but I lock them down with everything I have.I will not cry in front of him.I will not give him that.Luca has always fed on weakness the way some men feed on fear, and I would rather choke on my own blood than hand him either.
“You’re hurting me,” I bite out.
The words come out rough, between clenched teeth.My voice sounds smaller than I want it to, strained by the pressure of his hand, but I force them out anyway.
Luca just watches me.There is no flicker of regret.No sign that hurting me costs him a fucking thing.That is the worst part.Men like my brother don’t need rage to become monsters.They do it calmly.Elegantly.With cufflinks straight, suits pressed, and cold eyes that never once question whether they should stop.
His face is close enough now that I can see every detail.The smooth skin.The hard mouth.The dead, merciless stillness in his gaze.We share blood, but standing here with his hand locked around my face, he feels less human, something forged for power, sharpened by my father, and sent wherever damage needs to be done.
“You’re in no fucking position to lie to me, Isabella.So fucking tell me what you know.”
My fingers dig deeper into his wrist, not because I think I can overpower him, but because I need him to feel something in return.Even if it’s only the scratch of my nails to prove that I’m not standing here and taking it quietly.
“I’m not lying to you.”
It hurts to speak.My jaw throbs under his grip.My pulse pounds so hard I can feel it in my teeth, in my throat, in the space behind my eyes.But I keep staring at him because this is another lesson carved into me since childhood.Cruel men love compliance.They love the lowered gaze.The trembling lip.The retreat.
But I give him none of it.
“You will give us something.Names.Meetings.Plans.Whatever Lorenzo is doing, Father wants to know.There will be consequences if you don’t.”
“And what exactly are those consequences?”I say.“There’s no one for you to kill this time, Luca.”
His eyes narrow as his hand jerks my face up higher causing pain to flare through my jaw.
“Watch your fucking mouth, Isabella.”
“Or what?”
His eyes go flat.Empty.This is when he is most dangerous.When even the performance of brotherhood falls away and all that remains is our father’s son.
“You think marrying Lorenzo De Luca makes you untouchable?”he tells me.“You think his name shields you from us?”
When I don’t answer, he leans in even closer.
“He can’t protect you every second, Isabella.He can’t follow you into every room.And if father decides you’ve stopped being useful, he will remind you exactly what happens to women who forget where they belong.”
The words land where they are meant to.A bruise pressed hard enough to bloom again.
Before I can say another word, a voice cuts through the room.
