Chapter 5 - The Reckoning
Chaos erupted in the ballroom.
"Lies!" Vanessa shrieked, her mask completely slipping as she glared at me like a cornered animal. "She's a nobody! A lying, penniless waitress trying to extort money from my family! Dante, you can't believe a word this tramp says!"
"She has no proof!" Julian shouted, reaching for his hip, but three red laser dots immediately centered on his forehead from the balcony above. He froze, his hand hovering near his holster. "This is a setup, Moretti! You brought a street rat into the Commission to frame us!"
Dante didn't flinch. He looked at Marco. "Bring out the audio."
Marco pulled a tablet from his coat and pressed play. A loud speaker connected to the room's sound system crackled to life.
"It's done," Julian’s voice echoed through the hall, clear and crisp. "The brakes? Cut just enough. They'll fail on the mountain road."
"By midnight, I'll be a grieving widow..." Vanessa’s soft, mocking laughter followed, filling every corner of the room.
Vanessa gasped, grabbing her throat. The microphone hidden inside the jade pendant around my neck hadn't been recording tonight—it had been playing back the audio file extracted from Bellini's security system, which Dante’s cyber team had recovered from the restaurant's local server two days ago.
The elders of the Commission looked at Vanessa and Julian with cold disgust. In the syndicate world, business rivalries were expected, but orchestrating the dishonorable murder of a Don through treasonous infidelity was an unforgivable offense.
"The evidence is clear," the oldest member of the Commission, Don Carmine, declared, leaning heavily on his wooden cane. "Vanessa Moretti and Julian Rossi have broken the sacred pact. Their lives are forfeit to the Moretti family."
Julian panicked. Knowing he was doomed, he drew his gun in a flash of desperation, aiming straight at Dante's head.
BANG.
A single shot echoed through the room. Julian’s gun clattered to the floor as he collapsed onto his knees, clutching his shoulder where Marco’s precise shot had struck him.
Two guards grabbed Julian, slamming him face-first onto the marble. Vanessa tried to run toward the side exit, but two female guards intercepted her, forcing her onto her knees beside her lover.
Vanessa looked up at Dante, tears of real terror finally streaming down her face. "Dante, please! I was weak! He manipulated me! He promised he would protect me! Don't do this!"
Dante walked over, stopping right in front of her. He looked down at his wife of six years with complete detachment.
"You didn't just try to kill me, Vanessa," Dante said quietly. "You betrayed everything this family built. You sent men to burn a innocent girl's home because she had the courage you lacked."
Dante raised his hand, gesturing to the guards. "Take Julian to the basement. He will answer for every drop of blood spilled on that mountain. As for Vanessa... stripped of the Moretti name, stripped of every dollar, and placed in federal custody under the evidence of conspiracy to commit murder."
"No! Dante, please!" Vanessa screamed as she was dragged out of the ballroom, her nails scraping uselessly against the polished floor until her cries faded down the long corridor.
The room fell into a heavy, respectful silence. The remaining bosses bowed their heads slightly toward Dante, acknowledging his absolute victory and undisputed reign.
May you like
Dante turned back to me. In front of seventy of the most powerful men in the city, he walked over, took my wounded hand again, and brought it softly to his lips, kissing the white bandage over my knuckles.
"Thank you, Cara," Dante said softly, his gray eyes shining with an emotion I hadn't seen before. "The debt is settled."
