Chapter 14
Grant lost his capo pin that afternoon.
I did not tear it off.
I held out my hand.
He stared at it.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“You’d strip your own brother over this?”
“No.”
I looked toward the nursery ceiling.
“I’m stripping the man who used my son to manufacture authority.”
Grant’s face tightened.
He removed the pin and dropped it into my palm.
Vanessa lost household access.
Every key.
Every staff authority.
Every right to enter Luca’s rooms without invitation.
She laughed when I told her.
“You’re acting like I’m dangerous.”
Claire answered from behind me.
“You held down his carrier while freezing water was poured over it.”
Vanessa turned.
For once, I did not need to say anything.
The truth sounded sufficient in someone else’s voice.
Carlo remained a capo, but lost South Pier and every privilege tied to private family access. He had listened, benefited, and stayed silent too long.
The others returned to standard command.
No second chair.
No secret council.
No hotel meetings.
Grant looked at me before leaving.
“You think Luca made you stronger?”
I looked at him.
“No.”
That surprised him.
“He made me responsible for someone who cannot protect himself.”
Grant scoffed.
“Same weakness.”
I shook my head.
“That is why you lost.”
He frowned.
“You spent months assuming protection and power oppose each other.”
I handed his pin to a guard.
“They don’t.”
May you like
Grant left without answering.
For the first time in my life, I watched my younger brother walk away and felt no responsibility to make the distance smaller.
