Chapter 10
Conrad wanted to open the gate.
Domenico refused.
“My son is outside.”
“Yes.”
“Open it.”
“Not yet.”
Conrad turned violently.
“He’s thirteen.”
“So was every child this family trained to manipulate adults.”
Julian heard through the iron bars.
He smiled faintly.
Domenico noticed.
Too calm.
Too prepared.
“Julian,” Domenico said.
The boy looked at him.
“Who brought you?”
“No one.”
“Where is Shepherd?”
“No one knows.”
“Hunter?”
Julian glanced toward Miriam.
“She was one.”
“Current.”
“Different.”
“Name.”
“No.”
Conrad gripped the gate.
“Why?”
Julian looked at his father.
“Because if I say it before I’m inside, I die.”
Domenico’s eyes narrowed.
“Threat?”
“Rule.”
“Whose?”
“Theirs.”
He lifted his sleeve.
A scar circled his wrist.
Not fresh.
Conrad stared.
“What did they do to you?”
Julian’s expression hardened.
“Everything you let them.”
The accusation struck.
Conrad recoiled.
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t look.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“Because Miriam told you.”
“Yes.”
“And that was enough.”
Conrad could not answer.
Julian looked toward Domenico.
“You believe me?”
“I believe you’re angry.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
Domenico’s voice remained calm.
“I don’t trust you yet.”
Julian almost smiled.
“Good.”
That response interested him.
“You expected distrust.”
“I expected you to be smarter than my father.”
Conrad flinched.
Julian continued:
“If you open the gate because I’m family, you learned nothing.”
Conrad stared.
His own son was testing him.
Or warning him.
Domenico asked:
“What happens if we don’t open?”
“I leave.”
“And?”
“Eli stays marked.”
Domenico’s jaw tightened.
“Marked for what?”
“Taking.”
“When?”
Julian looked toward the sky.
“Before his fourth birthday.”
Three months away.
“Why?”
“Because Shepherd wants one child from each ruling branch.”
“How many?”
“Seven.”
“Current children?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Some already inside.”
“Names?”
Julian shook his head.
Domenico looked at Conrad.
Then opened the pedestrian gate.
Not the main entrance.
One narrow door.
One person.
Julian entered.
Bodyguards searched him.
No weapon.
Two black wolves.
One marked fourteen.
One marked six.
Nicola stared at six.
“That was Rafael’s.”
Julian looked at him.
“Was.”
Domenico caught the word.
“Rafael is dead.”
Julian said nothing.
“Is he?”
The boy looked at him.
“Four years.”
Miriam closed her eyes.
Her biological father dead.
No grief visible.
Only an emptiness toward a man she barely knew.
“Who became Shepherd?”
Julian looked toward the house.
“Someone from inside Ravello.”
Conrad laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“Who?”
Julian looked at Miriam.
“Not her.”
Then Nicola.
“Not him.”
Then Domenico.
“Not you.”
Conrad frowned.
“Me?”
Julian stared.
“You wish.”
For the first time a shadow of the five-year-old appeared.
Sharp mouth.
Conrad almost smiled through tears.
Then Julian’s face hardened again.
“Shepherd is someone everyone invites to children’s birthdays.”
Domenico’s stomach tightened.
“Family?”
“Close enough.”
“Who?”
Julian shook his head.
“I want Eli first.”
Domenico stepped closer.
“No.”
“I need to see him.”
“No.”
“Then I don’t talk.”
Conrad turned.
“Domenico.”
“No.”
“He’s my son.”
“And Eli is mine.”
Julian smiled faintly.
“Exactly.”
Domenico looked at him.
“What?”
“That is what Shepherd said you would say.”
Silence.
Julian continued:
“Two fathers. Two boys.”
His eyes moved between the cousins.
“One living under the house.”
“One raised outside it.”
“Make them choose.”
Conrad whispered:
“Choose what?”
May you like
Julian’s expression became cold.
“Which son gets to stay Ravello.”
