Chapter 6
The heavy, oppressive silence in the room stretched out, thick with the metallic tang of adrenaline and unspoken fear. The bright video colors of the lavish feast laid out on the mahogany table seemed to mock the dark, violent reality of the family dynamic. Dozens of high-ranking capos and senior family members sat frozen in their chairs, their fair, rosy skin pale under the cinematic lights, completely terrified to make a single sound or sudden movement.
Alessandro slowly turned his sharp, intimidating gaze away from his weeping aunt and let it sweep methodically across the long dining table.
"My daughter," Alessandro began, his deep, raspy voice carrying effortlessly to every corner of the vast hall. "Was forced onto the floor. In front of twenty grown men and women. People who have sworn a blood oath to protect this family."
He began to pace slowly behind the chairs of his lieutenants, his polished leather shoes clicking rhythmically against the marble.
"And yet," Alessandro continued, pausing behind the chair of a particularly wealthy capo. "Not a single one of you. Stood up. Not a single one of you. Stopped her."
"Boss, please," the capo stammered, his American accent cracking with nervous tension. He didn't dare turn around to look at the man pacing behind him. "It happened so fast. And Bianca is your aunt. We didn't want to interfere in a family dispute."
"A family dispute," Alessandro repeated, the words tasting like poison on his tongue. He leaned down slightly, placing his large, tattooed hands firmly on the back of the capo's chair. "When a woman. Attempts to feed my three-year-old child from a dog bowl. It is not a dispute. It is an act of treason."
The capo swallowed hard, sweat beading on his forehead despite the cool, air-conditioned room.
"I have spent the last five years," Alessandro said, his volume remaining terrifyingly low and measured, "building an empire that controls the entire eastern seaboard. I have drowned rival bosses in their own harbors to ensure that the Vitale name commands absolute, unquestionable respect."
He stepped away from the chair, walking back toward the head of the table where Sophie sat quietly, watching him with wide blue eyes.
"If the men at my own table," Alessandro said, sweeping his cold eyes over the assembly, "will not protect my bloodline from an abusive, jealous old woman. Then you are of no use to me. You are a liability."
The men at the table exchanged panicked, desperate glances. They knew Alessandro’s reputation. He was not a man who forgave complacency. In his world, inaction was complicity.
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"Alessandro, you can't blame them!" Bianca shrieked from the floor, desperately trying to deflect his wrath and regain some semblance of leverage. "They know the truth! They know that child makes you weak! Ever since her mother died, you've lost your edge! I was trying to toughen her up so our enemies wouldn't see her as a vulnerability!"
Alessandro stopped dead in his tracks. The mention of his late wife caused the temperature in the room to drop to a freezing, apocalyptic zero.
