---- Chapter 9 Ethan POV: The rage is a white-hot fire in my veins. | grab Chloe's arm, my fingers digging into her skin, leaving bruises. "You ruined everything!" My control, the absolute authority that is my birthright, has been completely undermined. She yanks her arm away, her eyes flashing with fear and defiance. "Me? You're the one who cooked up this whole fake amnesia scheme! You were going to marry her and throw me away the second the political arrangement was sealed!" She's exposing my manipulation, my utter disregard for Omerta in my personal affairs. "You're a stupid little fool!" | shout, my voice echoing in the empty apartment. "You're an Associate! You don't get to understand the rules, you just follow them "And you're a pathetic, lying failure!" she screams back. A failure of a Don. Something inside me snaps. | lunge forward, my hands closing around her throat. Her eyes widen in terror, a choked gasp escaping her lips. For a second, | see nothing but red, the raw, violent power that comes with my name asserting control. ---- | let go just as quickly, shoving her away. She stumbles back, coughing and sobbing. "Get out," | hiss, my voice low and dangerous. "And if you breathe a word of this to anyone, | will destroy you. That is a family promise." It is the promise of Vendetta. A promise every Don must keep. She scrambles for the door and flees. | collapse onto the sofa, the silence of the apartment pressing in on me. I'm alone. Utterly and completely alone. For the first time, | realize that Ava's absence is more than just a blow to my pride. It's a gaping hole. She's gone, and with her, my carefully constructed world. I've lost my most valuable property. Mark and Dave come back upstairs, finding me staring into space. "Boss? Everything okay?" "She's gone," | say, the words tasting like ash. | can't face my father like this. | can't admit defeat. The political alliance is in jeopardy. A new feeling begins to crystallize in the wreckage of my anger. A cold, hard resolve. She will not get away with this. She will not humiliate the future Don of the Reed family. | will find her. ---- And when | do, she will pay the price for her defiance. A Vendetta isn't just for rival families. It's for anyone who disrespects the power | command. | wouldn't just find her. | would make an example of her. | will drag my property back, kicking and screaming if | have to.