Chapter 10

Dante Vitiello POV

The morning sun assaulted my eyes, doing nothing to burn off the alcohol or the simmering anger.

I found Valeria in the kitchen, barking orders at the staff. She was posturing, trying too hard to play the role of the Donna she would never be.

"Get out," I growled at the staff.

They scrambled, abandoning their tasks to leave us alone.

Valeria turned, holding a cup of espresso. Her hand was shaking so badly the ceramic rattled against the saucer.

"Dante, about last night..."

"Don't," I said, my voice low as I leaned against the counter. "Just tell me one thing. And if you lie to me, Valeria, I will cut out your tongue."

She paled, her knuckles turning white around the cup.

"Why does she hate me?" I asked. "Sienna. Before the poison. Before the gala. Why did she look at me like I was the devil?"

Valeria swallowed hard. She set the cup down before she dropped it.

"Because of her parents, Dante. You know this."

I narrowed my eyes. "What about her parents?"

"She... she told me," Valeria stammered. "She signed it to me once. She said she hates you because you killed them. She said she knows you gave the order to sink her father's boat five years ago."

I froze.

The air in the kitchen seemed to vanish.

"Sink the boat?" I repeated, the words tasting like ash.

"Yes. With them on it."

My mind snapped back five years.

Sienna's father had been late on payments. I had threatened him. I had told Rocco to put the fear of God into him.

But I never gave an order to sink the boat.

And her parents weren't dead.

They were alive. I had ordered them moved to a safe house in Jersey two days ago to use as leverage against Sienna.

If Sienna thought they were dead...

If she thought I killed them...

Then her "hatred" wasn't rebellion. It was grief.

And it was justified.

A heavy silence settled between us.

"She told you?" I asked softly, dangerously.

"Yes," Valeria insisted, gaining a desperate sort of confidence. "She said you were a murderer."

"Sienna barely signs to anyone," I said, pushing off the counter. "Especially not to you. But if she believes this..."

I yanked my phone out.

"Rocco," I barked into the receiver. "Bring the car around. We're going to the safe house. Pick up the fisherman and his wife."

"Dante?" Valeria stepped forward, confusion warring with fear. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to prove you wrong," I said, checking the clip of my gun. "I'm going to bring her parents to the dungeon. I'm going to show Sienna that I am not the monster she thinks I am."

I felt a strange, desperate need to clear my name. To see her eyes change from hate to... something else. Relief. Maybe even gratitude.

"And you," I pointed a finger at Valeria. "You stay here. If you leave this house, the guards have orders to shoot."

I turned and strode out.

I was going to fix this.

I was the Don. I could fix anything.

I didn't know that I was already too late.