Page 101 of Bound in Ruin

Dante completely loses his mind. Realizing he's been backed into a corner, he turns to me.

"You bitch!" Dante roars, his face turning purple with pure, unadulterated rage. Spurred by embarrassment and desperation, he lunges straight across the table toward me.

He doesn't even make it halfway.

Dominic moves faster than a strike of lightning. He grabs Dante by the throat mid-air, slamming him violently down onto the hard mahogany table. Before Dante can even draw breath to scream, Dominic grabs his right arm, twists it back, and brings his palm down hard on Dante's wrist.

CRACK.

The sickening sound of bone snapping echoes through the hall. Dante screeches in agony, collapsing onto the table as he clutches his broken wrist, sobbing hysterically.

"Touch her again," Dominic growls, his voice a low, terrifying vibrate that makes the entire room freeze. "Touch her again and I won't stop at your wrist."

Dante frantically looks around the room, desperate for support. "Council! He's attacking me! Protect me!"

Not a single soul moves to help him. The three neutral family heads stare down at him with utter disgust. Dante has broken sacred laws of the syndicate—he used fake police colors, executed protected Kane guards, and threatened the life of a sworn wife under extortion. He is a disgraced liability, and he knows it.

Dominic doesn't kill him right here in front of the Council. That would be too merciful, and too messy for public record.

Instead, Dominic makes a simple gesture. Keane steps forward with two heavily armed guards, grabbing Dante by his designer jacket and hauling him off the table like a sack of trash. Dante kicks and screams, his tear-streaked face twisted in panic as he’s dragged out of the grand hall. I don’t know where they're taking him. I don’t care.

He will be officially stripped of his title, his power, and every shred of DeLorenzo protection. He is erased.

The room slowly settles, though the residual shock hangs heavy in the air.

Dominic turns to me, stepping into the space beside my chair. He extends his hand, his dark eyes searching mine with a quiet, fierce warmth.

I don't hesitate. I reach out and place my hand in his, letting his strong, solid fingers wrap securely around mine as I stand up beside him.

Without Dante’s chaotic pressure and fraudulent claims, the DeLorenzo Council has no legal or physical standing left to fight. The neutral arbitrators quickly rule in our favor, closing the hearing once and for all.

My lawyers immediately step up to finalize the paperwork, officially confirming that Luciano’s hidden accounts, contracts, and immense fortune remain fully, entirely under my sole control.

My father, Massimo, takes a step toward me, his hand slightly raised as if he's about to speak, to offer some stern patriarch's counsel or smooth over the cracks in our broken family tree. Now that I’ve come into new wealth with Luciano’s money, I’m sure he’ll want a cut.

In his dreams.

I hold up a single hand, stopping him dead in his tracks before he can utter a word.

"Don't, Father," I say, my voice steady, cold, and ringing with absolute clarity. I can’t even call him my father anymore. "I am no longer a piece on your board. I am no longer something for you to trade, to protect, or to reclaim. Leave me alone.”

Massimo freezes, looking genuinely shocked, as if the quiet girl he used to dictate terms to has completely ceased to exist. He closes his mouth, finding no words to counter the authority standing in front of him.

Before he can recover, my sisters brush past him, stepping up to surround me. They throw their arms around me, pulling me into a tight, fierce embrace that breathes pure warmth back into my chest.

"I'm so proud of you, Rosalia," Daniela whispers into my shoulder, her voice thick with emotion. "So damn proud."

"You were incredible," Camilla pulls back slightly, her eyes bright with tears as she smiles at me. "So proud."

Beside me, Dominic steps up, resting a warm hand on the small of my back as he looks down at me with burning pride.

"Me too," he says softly.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

DOMINIC

When we finally get back to the estate, I lead Rosalia straight up to our suite. I don't feel victorious. Dante may be rotting in a black site and the Council may be silenced, but the reality of how close I came to losing her still hangs heavy in my chest.