Chapter 9 - CHECKMATE
The passage behind the west drawing room was narrow, built originally to load firewood directly into the massive hearth. Alessandro and I stood in the pitch-black space, listening to the voices echoing through the thin wood paneling. Sophia was safely hidden in a linen closet two floors down, told to play the "quiet mouse game" until I returned.
Through the slats, I could see the room. Victoria was pacing, screaming at her capos.
"What do you mean the doors are unlocked? Lock them manually! Find that maid!"
Dante rushed into the room, covered in mud. "Donna Victoria, the ledger isn't in the greenhouse. She lied."
"Incompetent fools!" Victoria shrieked. "I have to do everything myself. Just like I had to handle Isabella when Sandro was too weak to see she was ruining us!"
The room fell dead silent. The capos exchanged nervous glances. Victoria had just confessed, out loud, in front of the ranking members of the family.
"Is that so, Aunt Victoria?"
Alessandro kicked the hidden paneling so hard the wood splintered into a dozen pieces. He stepped out of the wall like a vengeful ghost, covered in soot, rain, and blood, his Beretta raised.
The capos froze. Dante reached for his weapon, but Alessandro didn't hesitate. He pulled the trigger twice. Dante fell to the marble floor, dead before he realized what hit him.
The sound of the gunshots echoed like thunder. The guards rushed the doors, but the capos—the men who had been loyal to Alessandro's father, and to Alessandro himself—raised their hands, signaling the guards to stand down. They had heard the confession.
Victoria stumbled backward, her face drained of all color, her regal posture collapsing. "Sandro... you're alive."
"To your great disappointment," Alessandro said, his voice a low, terrifying growl. He walked slowly toward her, leaving bloody footprints on the Persian rug. "You stole from the family. You betrayed my trust. But worst of all... you took her from me. You took Isabella."
"She was going to make you legitimate!" Victoria cried, backing into the piano. Isabella's piano. "She was going to turn our empire into a legitimate construction firm. We are royalty, Sandro! We don't play by civilian rules. I did it for the family!"
"You did it for greed," Alessandro said, stopping three feet from her. He pulled the leather ledger from his coat pocket and tossed it at the feet of the oldest capo. "Read it, Carmine. See how she bled you all dry to line her own pockets."
Carmine picked up the book, flipping through the pages. His expression turned murderous. "She's been skimming from our crews. Millions."
The room turned against her in an instant. The men who had been taking her orders ten minutes ago now looked at her like a rabid dog.
Victoria sank to her knees, looking up at Alessandro. "Please, Sandro. Blood is blood."
Alessandro stared down at her, his eyes devoid of any mercy. "You are no longer blood to me."
He lowered his gun, refusing to give her the quick death she expected. He turned to Carmine. "Take her to the commission. Give them the ledger. Let them decide her fate according to the old laws."
Victoria began to scream as two capos dragged her by her arms out of the drawing room. The wails faded down the hallway, leaving behind only the heavy silence of a reign of terror finally broken.
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Alessandro stood swaying on his feet, the adrenaline finally leaving his system. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed toward the floor. I broke from the hidden passage, catching him just as his knees hit the marble.
"It's over," he whispered, resting his head against my shoulder. "It's finally over."
