Chapter 6
The silence in the grand dining hall stretched taut, a physical weight that pressed down upon the seated guests. The bright, airy colors of the room felt suddenly stark, exposing the raw, underlying brutality of the situation.
Kieran remained perfectly still, his tailored dark suit acting as an impenetrable wall between his family and the woman who had sought to destroy their peace.
"You can't do this, Kieran," Miranda hissed, panic mutating into cornered, vicious entitlement. "My family brings the southern ports to this alliance. If you humiliate me based on the ramblings of a child, my father will declare war. He will shut down your supply lines."
"Will he declare war?" Kieran asked, tilting his head with dangerous curiosity. The loose strands of wavy hair falling over his forehead contrasted violently with the absolute, apocalyptic death promised in his cold eyes. "Or will he thank me for returning his defective, cruel daughter before she caused a war he could not possibly win?"
Miranda’s mouth dropped open. The color drained entirely from her lips. She realized she had absolutely no power left in the room. The alliance was dead, severed by her own psychopathic ambition.
"Get your hands off me!" Miranda screamed as two massive men in tailored dark suits stepped forward from the shadows and grabbed her by the arms. She thrashed wildly, her sculpted satin gown twisting awkwardly around her legs. "You are choosing a servant and a spoiled brat over a queen! You are a fool, Kieran!"
"Are empires built by men who allow innocence to be tortured in their own homes?" Kieran inquired, entirely unaffected by her venom.
He didn't wait for a response. He slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the silent, paralyzed guests.
"Is this engagement dinner concluded?" Kieran asked the room at large.
The question was rhetorical, a lethal command disguised as an inquiry. The guests immediately understood. Chairs scraped softly against the polished floors as the most powerful men and women in the American mafia stood up in unison. They didn't speak. They didn't offer their goodbyes or polite pleasantries. They simply turned and began a swift, silent exodus from the luminous dining hall, eager to escape the blast radius of the Boss's impending wrath.
Within ninety seconds, the massive, opulent room was entirely empty of guests. The only people remaining in the dining hall were Kieran, Annie, Flora, Miranda, and a dozen heavily armed, white American security guards standing quietly in the shadows near the carved marble fireplace.
"What are you going to do to me?" Miranda whispered, genuine fear replacing her arrogance.
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"Will my men escort you to the lower levels, or will you walk there yourself to await my judgment?" Kieran asked softly, gesturing with a heavily tattooed hand toward the armed guards.
Miranda let out a ragged, humiliated sob as the guards began to drag her toward the heavy double doors. Her furious, terrified screams echoed through the bright, airy room, fading only when the doors slammed shut, plunging the dining hall back into a profound, ringing silence.
