I even had the crystals replaced with real diamonds.
However, Renato had made a claim on her as I had stood there and watched. He was not a man who claimed much, and for whatever reason, he wanted her.
Salivated at the thought of having her.
He was prepared to spill blood over her.
So was I.
However, my situation was different. In the eyes of the family, he was free to make the claim, I was not since I was formally engaged to Elettra Buratti.
There comes a time in every man’s life when he must decide which road to go down. I had two ahead of me.
Challenge him first, which would begin with a different set of circumstances and lead to others.
Or he could challenge me first, which would lead to an entirely different set.
It all depended on the rules of the family and the man in charge of our justice system.
ZioLuca.
If he was powerful enough to rule this family, he was wise enough to open his ears to fate and listen as it whispered in it.
He would make the decision on how my fate and Renato’s would go in the name of love and honor.
A low growl vibrated in my throat at the thought of how Renato had been looking at mine, thinking she was his.
If he had been surprised that I set my chest against his, our eyes meeting, challenging, he did not show it. But he showed how far he was willing to go for her.
So did I.
Rocco intervened, being that his position in the family is directly underneath his father’s, and wanted to know if either of us was presenting a formal challenge.
If so, we had to speak on it.
If not, we had to walk away, andZioLuca’s order would be set in stone: Ava would leave with Renato in two days’ time.
Fuck if that was going to happen.
Renato and I had each taken a step back. It meant that no formal challenge had been spoken aloud, but that did not mean it was over. It just meant that Renato was a formidable opponent who was not hot-headed. He would convene with his side, and so would I to form battle plans.
There were even instances where money and property were exchanged for whatever had been set on the field as prize, but never a woman. It was a strict rule in our family.
A woman’s love had to be bled for with the value of our blood, not paid for with worldly goods.
Which was a way for a man to prove his unyielding love.
The men who were doing it out of pride, and nothing more, had a hard time forfeiting his life for it, which took the challenge out of the amphitheater and turned it cold.
Love was the one thing worth living and dying for.
Still, because we caused a scene at the opera with our display, we would have a price to pay individually, even if it was not war.
In this dispute, however, I would not have the support of my father, or whoever was above me. Even if I pledged fealty to my uncle, it would depend on how he felt about the situation as to the outcome of it. And he would only give his ruling after my loyalty was sealed on his side.
I could still lose Ava forever, even after I lost my faction of the family.
Because of my position as the first-born son, I had options my brothers did not, even if I bore the brunt of the decisions. If my father would have died, I would rule my faction. Unless he publicly acknowledged that he was giving it to one of my brothers, which he had not.
