216

Isabella

"Do I need to remind you that you are a fugitive?" Damon's voice cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter.

"Do I need to remind you that your crimes are so great you deserve to be put to death?" Damon stood up from his seat and walked towards the pregnant woman.

"Get out, or I will pull my gun and shoot you between your eyes, not caring about the child within your belly." Instantly, Donatella gasped and covered her mouth with surprise.

She got up and walked towards both of them and set herself in their midst as though to protect Cassandra.

 "Ouch," I thought to myself. "So much for loyalty forever," I said out loud. Donatella turned to me.

"You must understand, princess, it's not as though I will not be loyal to you. It's just with the recent developments, we find ourselves needing an heir. Perhaps once she gives birth, she can leave."

 "I'm not going anywhere," Cassandra said, protesting as she pushed the older woman out of the way.

"I'm here to challenge her entire seat. And in extension, I'm challenging the Mafia King. After all, he has no name, and he can't sit being that the actual owner of the throne is alive. Isn't that impunity? Isn't that treason in itself?"

Damon grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room, silencing her momentarily. Donatella turned around and looked at me. "Princess, you must stop this madness."

"Madness?" I asked.

"You are the one that is mad. You're the one that brought that criminal from God knows where back into my city after the wrong she has done.

The people she has killed, families she has destroyed all on her own whims. You have betrayed me, Donatella. If you want to switch sides and switch camps, you can go ahead.

But don't dare look at me and tell me that this is for my sake because we both know that it's for yours." I huffed as I closed the laptop and left the meeting instantly after that.

I must have paced for hours waiting for Damon to reply, and when he did, I turned towards him.

 "What did you do with her? Did you lock her up in my family's estate? Tell me, Damon!" I said as I stood in front of him. The man peeled off his mask, leaned down, and planted a kiss on my lips, calming me instantly.

 "Better now?" He asked, and I simply whispered "yes" in response.

"She has supporters. Mostly members of the lower family. And I'm willing to bet some residue from Roman. She's going to divide the city," Damon said as he walked over to the bed.

"It's not as though people aren't loyal to you, Isabella. They are just loyal to the seat and loyal to the throne. Though and away, I don't blame Donatella.

After all, if I didn't know you were pregnant, I would get worried, and an opportunity presented itself to preserve your lineage, and she took it." I coughed as I walked over to him.

 "You can't surely believe that is what this is about. She spreads the rumors, Damon. All of this is her fault. The rumors drew my cousin like a moth to a flame.

 If not for her, I'm 100% sure, like I said before, this thing would spiral out of control, and lo and behold, look at it," I said, beside my husband.

 "I can't kill a pregnant woman," Damon said suddenly. "I'm not going to ask you to kill a pregnant woman. I want to go outside. I want everyone to know that I'm pregnant and that I'm fine," I said. Damon shook his head.

“The best course of action is to wait. Let those who want to rally with her do so. And finally, when we take them out, we'll do so in one fell swoop.” Damon said.

***

For the next few weeks, members of the lesser families flocked behind Cassandra as though they were flies on a piece of rotten meat. Calls after calls of apologies and letters as to why I should understand.

One of them in particular sent a note through Andrew. "I loved your family. Your father was a good man," the man said in his note.

"Which is why I'm sure he will agree with me when I do this. I will always stand by you, princess, but I'm afraid your house is going to die if I do not stand by your cousin." I rolled my eyes as I ripped the piece of paper to spread.

In the next meeting, all hell broke loose. More people stood in the room than the room could take. Some of the men looked at me and offered apologies and smiles. Once the door opened, revealing Damon, the room fell silent.

"Get out," I heard him say, but none of them moved. I heard a loud booming sound followed by all of them scurrying out of the room to reveal the normal council members and Cassandra taking a seat beside Donatella.

Donatella's hand was on her abdomen, and she looked at Damon as though she was a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Cassandra didn't stand, even though the other members of the council did as Damon walked in and took his seat.

The woman smirked the entire time and watched my husband at the head of the table.

 "They're unhappy," she suddenly said in an astral voice.

"My King… my nameless King." Suddenly, it looked like it dawned on the members of the lesser houses that they shouldn't have a nameless king. They all walked over to me to pledge their fealty.

"They say they support me… I'm not just them. Some major families that stand on the same footing as the members of the council except you, of course," she turned to Andrew and sneered at him.

"And so what do you want now?" Damon asked in a silent voice.

 "I'm simply going to challenge you. I'm going to challenge your stick to the throne. I, as the living heir to my family, challenge you, usurper of the throne.”