Chapter 2 I hear you've taken a white pet

The jet touched down in Naples just before dawn, the horizon streaked in pale gray. The cabin lights glowed warm, but Rose felt cold as the engines whined down. When the door opened, the air that rushed in was heavier, thick with salt and the faint tang of smoke from the city beyond.

Two black cars waited on the tarmac. Men in suits stood at attention, their faces impassive. Among them, a woman stepped forward, elegant in black, bowing her head slightly.

Dante didn't look at Rose as he spoke, it was the first words she had ever truly heard from him.

"Vestitela," he told the woman. Dress her.

Rose's stomach tightened, but the woman inclined her head in silence and gestured for Rose to follow. Without a word, Rose was guided down the stairs, her dress dragging across the steps as Luca's eyes lingered on her. He didn't look away until she disappeared into the waiting car.

When the door shut behind her, Dante smoothed the front of his suit, rising with slow precision. But before he could step down from the jet, Luca's voice spoke.

"Why, cugino?" Luca's smile was faint, dangerous. "Why spare Blake? Why marry his daughter? You could have ended it cleanly, like the others."

Dante turned his head, his storm-grey gaze falling on him. "Non ti devo spiegazioni." I owe you no explanation.

The corner of Luca's mouth curved higher. "Ah. Could it be that little Dante is letting a woman soften him. Getting caught up in... feelings." His tone dripped with mockery. "What would Vittorio say?"

Dante's jaw flexed, his hand curling once at his side. For a moment, no one spoke. Then he stepped closer, his voice low and sharp enough to silence the room.

"Attento, Luca." His words were low, lethal. "If you ever question me again, it won't be my father you need to fear."

The smile slipped from Luca's face, the amusement draining until only silence remained.

Dante adjusted his cufflink once more and descended the stairs without another glance.

The car climbed the narrow road, each turn taking them higher into the hills. Through the window, Naples spread out below, its lights scattered across the city like a map. Beyond it, the dark shape of Vesuvius loomed against the horizon.

Rose sat rigid in the back seat, the hum of the engine mixing with the rush of her pulse. Every turn of the road took her further from the city and closer to whatever waited above.

The gates came into view, iron shaped into the form of a crowned lion. Gold caught on its mane in the headlights as the gates opened soundlessly. Men stood on either side, dressed in black, their faces flat and unreadable. They weren't police or guards. They were soldiers.

It suddenly clicked in her mind.

Dante Moretti wasn't just some billionaire. She had read about him in law school-his tech companies, his luxury hotels. He had been a case study in her first-year business law class.

The man on the cover of Forbes, his name was everywhere. But then there were the guns. The underground dealings. It all fit together. Rose knew exactly what Dante was now.

A billionaire on the surface, yes, but beneath that, he was also a mafia boss. She's intelligent enough to put two and two together.

The car moved on, and the mansion appeared piece by piece. First the high stone walls, then the long drive lined with cypress trees. At the end of it, the house came into full view-Villa Corona Nera.

It wasn't just a house. It was a fortress dressed like a palace. Black marble columns reached into the night, the front lit by a soft gold glow. Rows of arched windows reflected the floodlights, and above it all, carved in stone, the crowned lion looked down.

The car slowed at the front steps. Rose's throat tightened as she stared up at the double doors, taller than any she'd ever seen, banded with iron and marked with the emblem of the Crown.

The door opened for her before she touched the handle. A servant bowed slightly, his tone quiet, practiced. "Benvenuta, signora." Welcome, madam.

Inside, the air changed. The sharp mix of salt and smoke was gone, replaced by the cool scent of marble. The atrium opened wide, black stone floors streaked with veins of gold. A chandelier hung overhead, throwing light across the room. At the center of the floor, a crowned lion was set in gold, its gaze fixed upward.

Her heels struck the marble as she was led forward, each sound echoing too loud in the vast space. It made her feel smaller with every step.

She glanced up and saw a gallery running the length of the atrium. The walls were filled with portraits-men in dark suits, their faces stern, the same storm-grey eyes appearing again and again. The Moretti bloodline. Their gaze seemed to follow her, pressing down until the air felt heavier in her chest.

A servant's hand touched her elbow lightly. "The room, signora."

She followed, the lace of her gown whispering against the stone. Her eyes burned, but she kept her chin high. She would not let them see her falter.

Behind her, the heavy doors shut with a final, echoing thud.

***

The corridor outside the council chamber carried the faint smell of incense and old stone. Dante's shoes tapped against the marble in a slow, steady rhythm as he walked to the double doors at the end. Two guards pulled them open without a word. Inside, the air was cooler, darker, thick with sickness and smoke.

Vittorio Moretti sat in a high-backed chair by the window, a black silk robe draped over his thin frame. His skin was pale and drawn tight, his breath rough from years of cigars and age. But his eyes-storm-grey and sharp as ever-had lost none of their strength.

Dante stopped at a respectful distance away. "Padre."

"How are the businesses?" Vittorio rasped, voice low, steady despite the gravel. "Concluded?"

Dante clasped his hands loosely behind his back. "It was handled."

Vittorio's mouth curved, thin and humorless. "So I am told. And more. Word travels, figlio. Faster than birds, faster than planes. It always finds its way back to me."

Dante said nothing. Silence was safer.

The old man's eyes gleamed. "Ho sentito che hai preso un animale domestico." I hear you've taken a pet.

The word did not surprise him. His father had never called women women. They were distractions. Commodities. Things. The insult carried no shock; it was expected.

"Yes," Dante said simply, his voice even.

A faint chuckle rattled from Vittorio's chest, quickly swallowed by a cough. He dabbed his lips with a handkerchief before continuing. "Marriage, I heard. A contract signed under God and the state. All for the life of a weak man who could not pay what he owed." He leaned forward, his stare heavy. "You will not be distracted, vero?"

Dante's fist clenched at his side, nails biting into his palm. "No."

The silence stretched. Vittorio studied him as though testing steel on fire.

"Bene." The single word dropped like a stone. "Then you will deal with what waits here. The Russians press on Trieste. Luca speaks of force. I speak of patience. What do you say?"

"I will handle it," Dante replied.

Vittorio reclined again, satisfied for now. His thin fingers tapped once on the armrest. "Ricorda, figlio. La Corona Nera non perdona errori. The Black Crown does not forgive mistakes."

Dante inclined his head. "I know."

He turned and left the chamber, the heavy doors closing behind him with a hollow echo. Only when the silence of the corridor swallowed him did he uncurl his hand, red marks pressed deep into his skin.

The portraits of Moretti men stared down from the walls as he walked, eyes painted in the same storm-grey as his own. He ignored them. He had somewhere else to be.

At the end of the hall, he stopped at a door. He knocked softly.

"Bella," he said, stepping inside.

His sister looked up from her chair by the window, her smile was faint but warm, hers was the one place in this house that did not feel like a cage.