Chapter 2 - The Serpent In Red
Victoria's crimson dress rustled violently as Dante tightened his grip, backing her up against the floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the rainy Chicago skyline. The city lights cast harsh neon reflections across her terrified, pale face. She clawed at his iron fingers, her polished composure completely evaporating.
""Start talking before I throw you from this terrace,"" Dante growled, his voice vibrating with absolute lethality. ""Who wrote the note? Where is Marcus keeping Luca?""
""He... he isn't a prisoner!"" Victoria wheezed out, her manicured nails digging into Dante's wrist. ""You idiot! Luca never died in that warehouse fire! He cut a deal with my father eleven years ago because he hated living in your shadow! He wanted the Moretti syndicate, and my father gave him a new identity, an army in Canada, and millions in clean funds!""
Elena felt the room tilt beneath her feet. The phantom brother Dante had mourned for over a decade, the boy whose loss had turned Dante into a ruthless enforcer of blood and iron, hadn't been an innocent victim. He was a traitor.
Dante shoved Victoria onto the velvet sofa with disgust. His breathing was heavy, his knuckles white. ""You're lying. Luca loved this family.""
""Luca hated you!"" Victoria laughed hysterically, smoothing down her designer silk while gasping for air. ""He watched our father give you the primary territory while he was treated like a reckless second-in-command. When the warehouse burned, he ignited the gasoline himself! He let those four guards die so everyone would think he was a pile of dental records! And now that you've traded your war dog instincts for a domesticated little pregnant wife, he decided it was time to strike.""
She pointed a trembling, manicured finger at Elena. ""She made you weak, Dante. Everyone in the five syndicates sees it. You don't execute enemies on the docks anymore; you hurry home for dinners. You don't attend late-night cartel summits; you sit in Lamaze classes. Luca smelled the blood in the water. He sent me to distract you, to drive a wedge between you and this pathetic flower, so you wouldn't notice his men infiltrating the South Side perimeter!""
""Victoria, shut up,"" Dante snarled, reaching inside his leather holster and racking the slide of his custom Kimber .45. The sharp metallic click echoed like thunder. ""Marco! Lev!""
The heavy mahogany double doors burst open instantly. Dante's two most trusted lieutenants, massive men built like granite fortresses, stepped inside with submachine guns held at the low ready.
""Take her down to the holding sub-cellar,"" Dante commanded, not even looking back at the woman he had known since childhood. ""Strip her of every device, every piece of jewelry, and put round-the-clock guards at the iron door. If she makes a sound, sedate her.""
""Dante, you can't do this to me! My father will turn this city to ash!"" Victoria screamed as Lev hauled her off the sofa by her elbows, dragging her kicking and screaming down the corridor. Her high heels scraped loudly against the polished marble floor until the heavy security fire door slammed shut, cutting off her screeching protests.
Silence descended upon the penthouse, but it wasn't the peaceful quiet Elena had cherished. It was the suffocating calm before an artillery strike.
Elena walked over to the desk where Dante stood, his hands braced against the wood, his head hung low. The pain radiating off his broad shoulders was palpable. He had built an empire on revenge for a brother who was actively marching to butcher him.
""Dante,"" Elena spoke softly, stepping close.
He turned, his eyes bloodshot and haunted. ""She was right about one thing, Elena. I let my guard down because for the first time in my miserable life, I wanted something clean. I wanted you. I wanted a daughter who never smelled gunsmoke. And by bringing my past out into the open, I put a target right on your chest.""
May you like
""We face it together,"" Elena answered, her voice trembling but resolute. ""You don't push me away again. You hear me? No more secret meetings. No more shielding me until the bullets fly through the nursery windows.""
Before Dante could answer, the security console on his desk erupted in shrill red sirens. Every camera feed on the monitor grid flickered to static one by one.
