Chapter 14
The final confrontation happened at the Bellandi townhouse.
Bianca had come to collect her remaining belongings.
Grant came because she asked him to.
Rocco allowed both inside under supervision.
The house felt unfamiliar with Bianca’s photographs already removed.
She walked through the rooms slowly.
“You’re really doing this.”
Rocco looked at her.
“You did it.”
Grant remained near the doorway.
He had lost his position, his income from Bellandi businesses, and most of the relationships that had made him important.
Several people he owed money to were still demanding repayment.
For the first time in years, nobody inside Rocco’s organization was required to answer his calls.
Bianca looked toward Grant.
“You told him everything.”
Grant stared back.
“You left your niece in a garage for nine hours.”
“You helped me.”
“Yes.”
Grant’s voice became quieter.
“And I’ll spend a long time knowing that.”
Bianca turned toward Rocco.
“You think you’re better than us now?”
“No.”
That answer surprised her.
Rocco continued.
“I think I spent years making people afraid to tell me the truth.”
He glanced at Grant.
“That made him powerful.”
Then Bianca.
“And it made you believe my name belonged to you.”
Bianca removed her wedding ring.
For one moment Rocco expected her to throw it.
Instead she placed it on the entry table.
“Was any of it real?”
Rocco knew what she meant.
Their marriage.
The dinners.
The mornings.
The years before the secret meetings.
“I don’t know anymore.”
Bianca’s face tightened.
Rocco did not give her the comfort of pretending certainty.
She picked up her suitcase.
Grant opened the door.
Neither received threats.
Neither received promises.
They simply walked out of the Bellandi home.
For Bianca, that ordinary exit was worse than the dramatic punishment she had expected.
May you like
The door closed.
And nobody followed them.
