Chapter 3

Dante POV

The bleeding didn't just fail to stop; it turned into a hemorrhage.

By the end of the week, the Vitiello stock-the legitimate face of the empire-had plummeted forty percent. The news cycle was calling it a management crisis. The streets, however, smelled blood in the water. They knew it for what it was: a power vacuum.

Investors were fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. The Commission wasn't just asking questions; they were demanding heads.

I sat in my new office, a glass-walled fortress high above the financial district. My new company, Cavallaro Security, had already signed three major contracts. Legitimate contracts. No bodies to bury. No envelopes of cash passed under tables.

My intercom buzzed.

"Mr. Cavallaro?" my secretary's voice was crisp. "I have a Ms. Vitiello on line one. She says it is a matter of life and death."

I looked at the paperwork in front of me. A clean audit. The stark white pages of a life without stains.

"Put her through."

"Dante."

Her voice was a ruin. She hadn't slept in days; I could hear the exhaustion, the fraying edges of her sanity scraping against the receiver.

"The bank froze the operating accounts," she whispered. "We can't make payroll. The soldiers are getting restless. Luca... Luca borrowed money."

My pen froze mid-signature. "Borrowed from whom?"

"The Russians," she choked out. "To prop up the stock price. He thought it would bounce back once we fixed the logistics."

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. Stupid. Unbelievably, recklessly stupid. The Russians didn't accept equity. They accepted payment in blood and bone.

"Why are you telling me this, Serena?"

"Because I made a mistake," she sobbed. The sound was raw, jagged. It was the first real emotion I had heard from her in years. "I made a terrible mistake, Dante. Luca... he lied to me. He said he knew the codes. He said you were holding us back."

"And you believed him," I said, my voice flat, "because he looks good in a suit and tells you exactly what you want to hear."

"I was confused! We have history, Dante. You and me. We grew up together. My father loved you like a son."

"Do not speak about your father," I said, my voice dropping to a low, dangerous growl. "He would have put a bullet in Luca's head the moment he disrespected the chain of command."

"I know! I know. Please. Just... come back."

"Come back to what?" I asked. "A sinking ship?"

"Come back to me."

The words hung in the air, heavy and pathetic.

"I can annul the partnership with Luca," she said, the words rushing out in a frantic torrent. "We can go back to the plan. The engagement. I will marry you, Dante. I will announce it tomorrow. You can be the Don. It is what you always wanted."

A cold sensation settled in my chest, displacing the last embers of rage. It wasn't anger anymore. It was disgust.

She thought I was a dog. She thought she could kick me out, let me starve in the alley, and then whistle when she needed a guard dog, expecting me to come running back for a scrap of affection.

"You think I wanted the title?" I asked.

"Yes! You worked so hard for it."

"I worked hard for you, Serena. I built this kingdom so you would be safe. The title was just the shield I used to protect you."

"Then protect me now!" she screamed, her composure shattering. "Marry me!"

I laughed. It was a sharp, jagged sound that held no humor.

"You are offering me a marriage license like it is a business transaction," I said. "But you already broke the contract, Serena."

"Dante..."

"I don't want your hand," I said, leaning back in my leather chair. "And I definitely don't want your throne. It is covered in debt and stupidity."

"I am going to lose everything," she whispered.

"I know," I said.

"How can you be so cruel? You loved me."

"I did," I said. "Past tense. But the Dante who loved you died the moment you let that clown kiss you on stage."

"I am coming over," she stated, panic rising in her voice. "We need to see each other. Face to face."

"Do not come here," I warned.

"I am coming. Luca is driving me. We are coming to your office right now."

I glanced at the high-definition security monitors. My building had armed guards in the lobby-professionals, not street thugs.

"If you come here," I said softly, "I will treat you like any other trespasser."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

I severed the connection.

"Marco," I called out.

My head of security stepped in from the adjoining room. "Yeah, Boss?"

"Call the police," I said.

Marco blinked, momentarily stunned. "The cops?"

"Tell them we have a credible security threat," I said, smoothing my tie. "Two individuals attempting to breach the premises to harass the CEO. Tell them one of them is Luca Moretti."

Marco smiled. It was a vicious thing.

"With pleasure."