Chapter 7
Dante looked at Ava.
Then at the chain still lying on the porch beyond the doors.
A test.
Not random cruelty.
Not discipline.
A reenactment.
That made it worse.
Vivienne stood.
Her confidence had returned completely.
“You were always going to choose her.”
Dante looked at her.
She smiled.
“That was the point.”
Marcus added:
“Everyone needed to see it.”
Dante’s gaze shifted.
“Everyone?”
Marcus’s mouth curved.
The smartphone recording.
Not simply evidence.
Broadcast.
Dante turned toward Nico.
“Check the phone.”
Nico did.
His face changed.
“It was streaming.”
Several capos muttered.
“Where?”
Nico looked toward Dante.
“Private channel.”
“Who had access?”
A pause.
“Thirty-seven Bellandi captains.”
The room changed instantly.
Vivienne smiled.
“There.”
She spread her arms.
“The family watched you throw a senior associate through a trolley and attack your fiancée because a child cried.”
Dante stared.
Marcus’s arrogance sharpened.
“You didn’t just fail the test.”
He stepped closer.
“You failed it beautifully.”
Ava shifted behind Nico.
Dante saw her.
Marcus saw him seeing her.
“That look.”
His voice dripped contempt.
“You can’t even help yourself.”
Dante’s hands remained loose.
Marcus continued.
“You’re not a boss when she’s in the room.”
A smile.
“You’re a frightened father wearing a good suit.”
Dante did not move.
That unsettled Marcus.
Vivienne narrowed her eyes.
She expected anger.
Instead Dante asked:
“What happens next?”
Marcus stopped.
“What?”
“The test.”
Dante looked at Vivienne.
“You provoke me.”
“At least you finally understand.”
“You stream it.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
Vivienne’s eyes shifted.
She had not expected the question.
Thomas spoke.
“Council challenge.”
The room tightened.
Dante looked at him.
Thomas’s face was grim.
“Under the old Bellandi rule, a leader proven unable to separate personal attachment from family judgment can be challenged.”
Dante laughed once.
Quiet.
No humor.
“You kept that rule alive?”
Thomas looked away.
Dante’s expression cooled.
“So this was about removing me.”
Marcus smiled.
“Now he catches up.”
Dante turned.
Marcus lifted his chin.
“Honestly, Dante, you made it easy.”
Vivienne stepped beside him.
“The chain.”
“The camera.”
“The child.”
Her voice lowered.
“We barely had to touch anything.”
Ava’s monitor beeped once from the hallway.
Dante’s eyes changed.
Vivienne smiled.
“That’s why she’s perfect bait.”
Several capos looked disgusted.
Vivienne noticed.
“Oh, spare me.”
Her tone became vicious.
“Every one of you has used somebody weaker to get to somebody stronger.”
She looked toward Ava.
“She just happens to come with curls.”
Dante’s silence became dangerous.
Then Nico interrupted.
“Boss.”
The stream had a viewer list.
Thirty-seven captains.
Thirty-six known.
One anonymous account.
Active throughout.
Still connected now.
Dante looked at the screen.
“Trace it.”
Nico’s fingers moved.
Then stopped.
His face paled.
“What?”
“The connection is inside the estate.”
Everyone looked around.
Nico raised his eyes.
“Upstairs.”
Thomas whispered:
“No.”
Dante looked toward the grand staircase.
Someone inside his home had watched every second live.
Then a man’s voice came from above them.
“Not bad, little brother.”
Dante froze.
A stranger stood at the top of the stairs.
Same dark eyes.
Same Bellandi jaw.
Older.
May you like
Smiling.
Lorenzo.
