Chapter 5 The Betrayal Begins

The gates of the Moretti estate loomed before her, tall and imposing-just like the family that owned them. Guards at the entrance barely looked up at her approach, her face was known to them. A Romano, walking onto Moretti turf, could only mean one thing: trouble.

But she didn't flinch. Not this time.

The tension inside the estate was more repressed than ever, an inner screaming silence. Sophia harbored no illusions regarding the tightrope on which Salvatore was walking. The foundation of his father's empire was fear, and being the son, Salvatore should raise the flag. But then again, there was something different about him. Changing things was not idealistic for him; it was rather personal.

When she entered the opulent, yet cold interior of the Moretti home, Salvatore was waiting for her in the sitting room, looking every bit the heir to a mafia empire. His dark suit and sharp features spoke of power-and the danger that came with it.

"You're here," he said, his tone warm but laced with an undercurrent of urgency. He had clearly been waiting for her.

Sophia nodded, crossing the room to join him. She didn't bother with the formalities. There was no need. They both knew why she was here.

"I made my decision," she said, meeting his gaze head-on. "I'm in. But we do this on my terms. No more lies. No more secrets. I want everything laid out in front of me."

Salvatore's lips quirked, as if he had been expecting that. "Fair enough," he replied, his voice steady. "I can give you that. You deserve nothing less.

He gestured for her to sit, but she remained standing, arms crossed, the weight of her decision hanging between them like a tangible presence.

Salvatore's eyes narrowed, reading her as if she were an open book. "There are risks, you know. Bigger than you might realize."

Sophia was already well aware of the risks. But hearing him acknowledge them was an unexpected comfort. He wasn't naive. He knew what he was asking, and he knew what the cost would be.

"I'm never afraid of any risk," she said quietly but without hesitation. "But the thing is-I do need to know exactly what we are getting into. And you simply don't make the opening move without giving your player even a hint what the game is." For an instant, Salvatore's countenance shifted. Playfulness died away from around the eyes, replaced with something that reminded her too surely this was a man to reckon with.

We're going to bring down the Moretti empire," he said, his tone cool, yet deadly serious. "But not the way you're thinking. We don't bring it down with blood and screams-not yet. We start undermining everything my father holds dear. We destroy his power base, his alliances, the ones who keep him in office. We work from the inside.

Sophia nodded slowly, digesting the plan. "And how do we do that without raising suspicion?"

"That's where you come in," Salvatore said. He rose from his chair and paced across the room, his steps purposeful, as though he were already plotting out the moves on a chessboard. "We'll start with the people closest to him. His advisors, his enforcers. There are a few of the key players in his organization that have been playing against him, and we can use them to our advantage. But you-Sophia-you have connections that I don't. You know your father's people better than anyone. I need you to get close to them. I need you to gather information.

Sophia gritted her teeth. She didn't want to think about her father's men, the ones who had spent years in his service, whom she had known her whole life-some like uncles to her, some like brothers. But she knew what had to be done.

"And once we have the information?" she asked, her voice even despite the tightness in her chest.

"Then we pull the strings. We work the information to destabilize my father's empire. We create chaos. We make them question him, his leadership. We turn his allies against him."

"And what of those people who won't budge?" she asked, knowing there would be those who would keep faith with Salvatore's father, come what may. "The ones that would rather die than betray him?"

Salvatore's face darkened. "We deal with them the way we've always dealt with problems in our world. We remove them. But we do it carefully. We can't afford to make it too obvious."

Sophia nodded, the weight of his words settling into her chest. She had known the reality of their world-her world-but hearing it from Salvatore, hearing the cold practicality of it, made the darkness seem that much more real.

"We're going to be enemies in the eyes of everyone," she said softly, almost to herself. "Once we do this, there's no turning back. Neither of us will ever be safe again."

Salvatore turned fully toward her now, his face inscrutable, but there was something in his eyes that stayed her-a glimmer of understanding, perhaps even a trace of regret. Yet his resolution was clear: he wasn't going to back down. Neither of them was.

"Then we make sure they know we're not afraid of the consequences," he said, his voice low and unwavering. "We do this right, and we make sure no one can stand in our way."

The moment hung between them, heavy with the weight of what was to come. Sophia's heart pounded in her chest, but she didn't flinch. This was what she had chosen. This was the path she had set herself on, and now there was no turning back.

For the first time in years, Sophia Romano felt the stirrings of something else inside her-something she hadn't allowed herself to feel for a very long time.

Power.

And with it, the terrifying realization that she was no longer a pawn. She was a player. And she was about to change the game.

Outside, the night had grown darker, the air still and heavy. The world was waiting for them to make their move. And they would. Together.

The storm was over, but the one they were about to create was just beginning.