CHAPTER 7: THE GHOST OF THE PAST
Clara pulled away slowly, gasping for air as Julian’s forehead rested against hers.
His eyes were closed, his heavy breathing filling the quiet panic room.
But the intruder’s chilling words suddenly echoed through her mind, freezing the blood in her veins.
Looks like Vance found himself a pretty little replacement.
Clara shoved her hands against Julian’s chest, pushing him back.
“Who am I replacing, Julian?” she asked, her voice trembling but demanding.
Julian’s eyes snapped open, the vulnerability vanishing in a split second.
The cold, ruthless mafia boss instantly returned, shutting her out behind walls of pure ice.
“Do not ask questions about things that do not concern you,” Julian said coldly, turning his back to her.
“It concerns me when men with shotguns break into the playroom and call me a replacement!” Clara yelled, refusing to back down.
She grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at her.
“Where is Leo’s mother, Julian?” she demanded.
Julian stared at her hand on his arm, and then slowly brought his dark, dangerous gaze up to her face.
“Leo’s mother is the reason my son cannot hear,” Julian whispered, the words dripping with pure venom.
Clara gasped, taking a stumbling step backward.
“She didn’t die in an accident, Clara,” Julian continued, stalking toward her until her back hit the cold steel wall.
“She sold us out to the Valenti family,” he snarled, his face inches from hers. “And the explosion she planted in Leo’s bedroom took his hearing forever.”
Clara felt the room spin, the horrific reality of his words crushing her chest.
“Where is she now?” Clara asked, her voice barely a terrified squeak.
Julian smiled, but it was a soulless, terrifying expression.
“I buried her alive in the foundation of the very room you were just standing in.”
Can love truly erase the stain of a violent past, or does it simply drag you down into the dirt with the monsters?
Clara stared at the man she had just kissed, realizing she had fallen in love with a true devil.
And the devil had just locked the door from the inside.
