Chapter 8 - Sins of the Father
Isabella crawled forward on her hands and knees, reaching for the hem of Dante’s trousers. ""Dante... please! I never wanted to kill you! He told me you killed my mother! He told me your family burned our estate!""
Dante looked down at her with genuine pity—a cold, distant pity that cut deeper than any physical blade. ""Your mother died of ovarian cancer in a private clinic in Zurich, Katherine. My father paid for her treatment until her final breath. Marcus hid you in boarding schools and fed you poison for breakfast, lunch, and dinner because he needed a weapon he could control.""
Isabella turned toward Marcus, her expression contorting into an agonizing mixture of horror, betrayal, and madness. ""Is that true? Father... did Antonio pay for mother's hospital?""
Marcus refused to look at her. He stared straight ahead at the marble floor, his jaw clenched, his silence a screaming confession.
""You monster!"" she shrieked, lunging at Marcus with her fingernails bared, clawing at his face until the guards pulled her back by her arms. ""You ruined my life! You turned me into a whore and an assassin for a lie!""
""Quiet!"" Marcus roared, thrashing against the guards’ iron grip. ""You were weak! Just like your mother! If you had poisoned his drink at dinner like I told you to, we wouldn't be on our knees!""
Dante stood up, smoothing his jacket. He had heard enough. The tragic, pathetic unraveling of the Bellini bloodline was complete. There was no grandeur here; only the miserable rot of greed and deceit.
""Luca,"" Dante ordered quietly.
""Yes, boss?""
""The federal authorities have arrest warrants for Marcus Bellini for the execution of Antonio Moretti, twenty counts of racketeering, and orchestrating the Calumet dock massacre. Strip him of his coat, tie him up, and leave him on the steps of the federal courthouse with his father’s ledger taped to his chest.""
Marcus’s eyes widened with utter disbelief. ""You’re giving me to the feds? You’re a mafia don! You don't hand your enemies to the police!""
""Death is too quick for you, Marcus,"" Dante said, his voice flat and final. ""You want to be a king? You can rule a six-by-eight concrete cell in a maximum-security penitentiary for the rest of your miserable life. Every associate you ever had will know you were broken, exposed, and discarded.""
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""And the girl?"" Luca asked, nodding toward Isabella, who was sobbing uncontrollably on the ruined carpet.
""Katherine Bellini died twenty years ago in Switzerland,"" Dante replied, turning his back on her. ""Give her a passport with a blank history, five thousand dollars in cash, and put her on a cargo freighter heading to South America. If she ever sets foot on North American soil again, bury her.""
