Heir To Silence. Book 1 The Pact of Blood Series

The house is silent when I walk in.

Not asleep. Not calm.

Waiting.

Marco is the first thing I see.

He’s pacing the length of the hall like a caged animal, jacket gone, shirt rumpled, jaw tight enough to crack. Antonio stands near the doorway, arms crossed, expression unreadable. Gio sits on the arm of a chair, leg bouncing, eyes bright with nerves and curiosity.

“Where were you?” Marco snaps.

I pause. “Out.”

“With who?” His voice rises. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“I’m twenty,” I say. “Not twelve.”

“You ran out of this house in heels,” he says sharply. “Into a stranger’s car.”

“I didn’t ask for a lecture.”

“You don’t get to ask for anything tonight,” Marco fires back. “You embarrassed father. You embarrassed all of us.”

Antonio finally speaks. “Lucia.”

His voice is quieter. Worse somehow.

“Do you understand what could’ve happened?”

“I was fine,” I say. “I wasn’t alone.”

Marco laughs without humor. “You were alone.”

I open my mouth to argue, then stop.

Because that’s not entirely true.

Gio tilts his head. “So. Just curious. Who brought you back?”

I stiffen.

Alessia’s voice floats in from behind me. “Wait. You didn’t come back with us?”

I turn.

She’s leaning against the doorway, makeup slightly smudged, eyes sharp with interest. “You disappeared. We looked everywhere.”

Marco’s attention snaps to her. “You left her.”

“She left with someone else,” Alessia says, eyes never leaving me. “Or I thought she did.”

Antonio’s gaze narrows. “With who?”

I hesitate.

Marco sees it immediately.

“Lucia,” he warns.

I exhale. “He stopped it.”

The room goes still.

“He?” Gio repeats softly.

Marco goes pale. “Who.”

I swallow. “The man from the meeting.”

Silence crashes down hard enough to feel.

Antonio closes his eyes.

Gio’s mouth drops open. “Oh.”

Marco turns on me. “You let him touch you?”

“He picked me up,” I snap. “Against my will, actually.”

Antonio steps forward immediately. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” I say. “He drove me home. And then he left.”

Marco scrubs a hand down his face like he’s trying not to lose it completely.

“You have no idea who that man is,” he says.

“I think I do,” I reply quietly. “But I’d like to hear you say it.”

Antonio sighs.

“He’s not just part of this,” he says. “He is this.”

My stomach tightens.

“His name is Matteo De Luca,” Marco says. “Italian syndicate. Old blood. Untouchable.”

Gio adds softly, “He doesn’t follow rules. He makes them.”

I think of the club bending around him. Of the way people moved without realizing why.

“And you let him watch me?” I ask.

Marco winces. “We didn’t know he would take an interest.”

“Interest,” Alessia repeats lightly. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”

Marco shoots her a look. “This isn’t funny.”

“No,” she agrees. “It isn’t.”

She turns to me. “You know he followed you, right?”

I nod slowly. “I felt it.”

Antonio’s voice drops. “Lucia, men like him don’t intervene unless something is already theirs.”

My pulse stutters.

“I’m not his,” I say.

Marco meets my eyes. “Not yet.”

The word hangs there. Heavy.

Gio slides off the chair and comes to stand beside me, shoulder pressing into mine.

“She didn’t know,” he says quietly.

Marco exhales hard. “That doesn’t change what almost happened.”

Antonio looks at me steadily. “From now on, you don’t leave without telling us. You don’t disappear. You don’t test men like him.”

I think of his hands. Controlled. The way he set me down like he could’ve done anything and chose not to.

“I didn’t test him,” I say.

Marco’s voice is tired now. “Lucia. He’s already testing you.”

No one speaks for a moment.

Alessia breaks it gently. “Well. On the bright side.”

Marco glares at her.

She shrugs. “You survived your first night out. And now you know exactly how dangerous boredom is.”

I huff despite myself.

Gio squeezes my hand. “Welcome to the family.”

I go upstairs alone.

In my room, I sit on the edge of the bed, heart still racing.

Matteo De Luca.

The name settles into me slowly.

I think of the way he watched me dance. The way he moved the world without touching it. The way he carried me like there was no other option.

I realize something then.

He didn’t stop me because he wanted me safe.

He stopped me because he wanted control.

And somehow, that realization doesn’t scare me as much as it should.