Chapter 33

• The dim, wood-paneled study exuded an aura of hushed power and exclusivity befitting the rarified air of Valenton City's uppermost elite stratosphere. Here, ensconced in the oak-and-leather sanctum of the Donovan family's ancestral estate, the wizened family patriarch held court like a brooding lion surveying his kingdom.
• Vincenzo Donovan cut an imposing figure despite his increasingly frail years - ramrod straight in his high-backed armchair, steely eyes missing nothing as they appraised the demure-looking young woman delicately perched before him. Though his once-virile frame had inevitably surrendered ground to the inescapable ravages of time, the undisputed don's piercing gaze remained as lethally sharp and inscrutable as ever.
• "My dear Bianca," he addressed the raven-haired beauty in a wheezing baritone laced with fatherly indulgence. "You must know how immensely gratifying it is to have you grace my presence once again after all these years."