Chapter 5
The temperature in the garden seemed to plummet ten degrees. Claudia pressed herself back into the ruin of the overturned planters, her breath coming in short, terrified gasps. Marco remained silent on the ground, staring at the silver locket in Alessio's clenched fist as if it were a live grenade.
"Alessio, listen to me," Claudia begged, her voice high and desperate. "You were weak! After she got sick, you wanted to go legitimate. You wanted to transition the family businesses into legal real estate. You were going to cut the syndicate's profits in half!"
"So you murdered her," Alessio stated. The absolute lack of emotion in his voice was far more terrifying than if he had screamed.
"The Commission ordered it!" Claudia cried, pointing an accusing finger at Marco. "He was the liaison! The bosses in New York said you needed a tragedy to remind you of who you are. To pull you back into the life. They told me if I didn't help arrange it, they would wipe out our entire bloodline. I did it to protect the family, Alessio!"
"You did it for power," Alessio corrected, stepping slowly toward her. "You took her from me, and you took a mother from Ruby. And then you had the absolute audacity to hide the proof of your treason in the very garden she built."
He tossed the silver locket to Gianni. "Put that in my safe. Then give me the gun."
Gianni caught the jewelry and immediately reached into the metal lockbox. He pulled out the silenced pistol, checked the chamber with a crisp metallic snap, and handed it handle-first to his boss.
Alessio weighed the weapon in his hand. It was perfectly balanced. He looked down the sights, aiming directly at the center of Marco's chest.
"Wait, wait!" Marco gasped, holding his bloody hands up in surrender. "Alessio, if you kill me, you sign your own death warrant. The guests out there? The capos having lunch on your front lawn? Half of them are loyal to the New York Commission. They are here today to see if we secured the ledgers. If I don't walk out of this garden, they will slaughter everyone in this estate. Including your daughter."
Alessio slowly lowered the pistol. He looked toward the high brick walls separating the garden from the main terrace. The faint sound of classical string music and the clatter of silverware could still be heard. He had over sixty armed men on the payroll, but Marco was right—if half the capos at the party were in on the coup, the estate was a powder keg waiting for a match.
"Evelyn," Alessio said, not taking his eyes off Marco.
"Yes, Uncle Alessio?" the girl answered softly.
"Do you know the hidden passageway behind the wine cellar?" he asked.
"Yes," she nodded. "It leads out to the old carriage house."
"I want you to go inside right now. Find Maria and Ruby in the safe room. Take them down to the cellar and do not stop running until you reach the city streets. Call the number on the back of my business card. Tell the man who answers that the Chicago winter has come early."
"What about you?" Evelyn asked, her eyes welling with tears.
"I have some gardening to finish," Alessio said, racking the slide of the pistol. A single bullet chambered with a deadly click.
"Run, Evelyn!" Claudia screamed. "Go to the police, tell them he's crazy!"
Evelyn looked at her mother, bruised and covered in dirt, begging for her life. Then, she looked at Alessio, standing tall, defending the memory of the woman who had always treated Evelyn with kindness.
Evelyn turned her back on her mother and sprinted toward the greenhouse doors.
May you like
Alessio watched her go. When the heavy glass doors clicked shut behind her, he turned his full, terrifying attention back to the two traitors on the ground.
"Gianni. Matteo," Alessio said calmly. "Lock the garden gates. No one leaves this courtyard alive."
