Chapter 6 - The Last Betrayal
Roberto Moretti entered the mansion through the front door.
No army.
No Victor Sanz.
Just an old man in an expensive gray suit.
Elena stood beside the staircase.
Dante came down slowly.
Adrian and Marco remained behind him.
Roberto looked around the entrance hall.
“Still your mother’s chandelier.”
Dante said nothing.
Roberto smiled.
“Nothing to say to your uncle?”
“You tried to have me killed.”
“Don’t be dramatic.”
Elena muttered, “Strong opening.”
Roberto looked at her.
“You must be the maid.”
“Elena,” Dante said quietly.
She ignored him.
Roberto smiled.
“I’ve heard about you.”
“That makes one of us.”
“You should leave us.”
“No.”
Roberto looked amused.
“You allow the help to speak to family like that?”
Dante descended the final step.
“She speaks however she wants.”
“That’s your problem.”
“No. Men like you were my problem.”
Roberto’s smile faded.
He looked at Adrian.
“You agree with this?”
Adrian shrugged.
“I’m enjoying the maid.”
“Elena,” she corrected.
Adrian nodded.
“Elena.”
Roberto looked back at Dante.
“You’ve become weak.”
Dante stopped six feet away.
“Because I listen?”
“Because you ask permission.”
Elena saw Dante’s jaw tighten.
Roberto had found the wound.
His father.
The old rules.
The belief that respect and fear were the same thing.
Roberto continued.
“Your father would be ashamed.”
Dante’s voice dropped.
“My father is dead.”
“His name isn’t.”
“No.”
Dante stepped closer.
“But his way of doing things is.”
Roberto laughed.
“You think businessmen respect you?”
“I don’t care.”
“Politicians?”
“No.”
“Your soldiers?”
Dante paused.
Then said:
“They don’t have to fear me to follow me.”
Roberto’s expression changed.
That was the answer he hadn’t expected.
He reached slowly inside his coat.
Marco moved.
“Hands!”
Roberto froze.
Then pulled out a phone.
He placed it on the table.
“Victor Sanz is finished.”
Dante looked at the screen.
Documents.
Accounts.
Messages.
Evidence connecting Victor to the conspiracy.
“Why give me this?”
“Because Victor made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“He threatened Sofia.”
Dante stared at him.
Roberto smiled bitterly.
“We disagree about many things. But she’s still my sister.”
Elena shook her head.
“So this entire war ends because somebody finally remembered he has a family?”
Roberto looked at her.
“You speak too much.”
“And yet I’m still here.”
Dante almost smiled.
Roberto’s eyes hardened.
“You think this woman makes you stronger?”
Dante looked at Elena.
“No.”
Elena blinked.
Roberto smiled.
Then Dante finished.
“She reminds me I’m responsible for whether I’m strong or weak.”
The smile disappeared.
Dante picked up the phone.
“You’re leaving Chicago.”
Roberto laughed.
“You’re ordering me?”
“Yes.”
“And if I refuse?”
Dante stared at him.
“Then I give everything on this phone to people who don’t care about our last name.”
Roberto’s face changed.
For the first time, Elena saw fear.
Not fear of violence.
Fear of irrelevance.
“You wouldn’t.”
Dante placed the phone in his pocket.
“Try me.”
Roberto looked at Adrian.
No help.
Marco.
Nothing.
Finally Elena.
She shrugged.
“He did clean the floor when I asked.”
Roberto stared at her.
Elena smiled.
“He’s capable of surprising people.”
Roberto left.
The front doors closed.
Silence filled the entrance hall.
Marco exhaled.
“That was disappointingly civilized.”
Elena looked at him.
“You wanted furniture thrown?”
“A little.”
Adrian laughed.
Dante turned toward Elena.
“You enjoyed that.”
“Immensely.”
“You antagonized my uncle.”
“He started it.”
“He could have been dangerous.”
“So can faulty electrical wiring. I still change light bulbs.”
Dante stared at her.
Marco quietly pulled Adrian toward the hallway.
“Come on.”
Adrian resisted.
“I want to hear this.”
“No.”
The two disappeared.
Elena folded her arms.
“What?”
Dante stepped closer.
“You stayed.”
“You asked.”
“You stayed during all of it.”
“You keep repeating yourself.”
“I’m trying to say something.”
“Then say it.”
Dante went quiet.
For once, Elena didn’t rescue him.
Finally he said:
“I spent my whole life believing love was another word people used when they wanted leverage.”
Elena’s expression changed.
“I don’t know how to do this normally.”
“Do what?”
“This.”
He gestured between them.
Elena looked at him.
“Neither do I.”
“You seem very confident.”
“I’m confident about cleaning floors.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Not this.”
Dante reached for her hand but stopped before touching it.
Elena noticed.
“You’re asking permission?”
“Yes.”
She let the silence stretch.
Then placed her hand in his.
“Good.”
Dante leaned closer.
“Can I kiss you?”
Elena’s mouth curved.
“That was almost polite.”
“Elena.”
“Yes.”
He kissed her.
Not like a man claiming something.
Like a man who had finally learned the difference between taking—
and being invited.
When they separated, Elena looked down.
Dante followed her gaze.
One of Roberto’s shoes had left mud near the doorway.
Elena pointed.
“Absolutely not.”
Dante stared at the footprint.
Then at her.
“You cannot be serious.”
“The cloth is in the closet.”
“Elena.”
“Dante.”
He closed his eyes.
May you like
From the hallway, Marco began laughing.
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