30. Dante
THIRTY
The Maserati’s engine roared as I tore down the winding drive towards my father’s palatial estate in Palm Beach. The manicured lawns and meticulously pruned hedges blurred past my window, starkly contrasting the storm of emotions within me.
Last night with Natalia had been... transcendent. The way she had surrendered herself to me, the trust and vulnerability in her eyes as I bound her wrists and took her to new heights of pleasure. It had awoken something primal within me, a possessive need to claim her, to make her mine in every sense of the word.
But more than that, it had unlocked a part of me buried beneath my father’s suffocating patrimony. For the first time I had felt truly alive, free from the shackles of the life I had been born into.
And now, as the imposing silhouette of my father’s mansion loomed before me, I felt that newfound freedom slipping through my fingers like grains of sand. The mere thought of facing my father, looking into those cold, calculating eyes, pretending to be the dutiful son he expected, made my stomach churn with a potent mix of rage and disgust.
How could I play the part? How could I cozy up to the man who had so callously used me as a pawn in his twisted game of power and deception, endangering not only my own life but that of the woman I loved?
Natalia.
Her name was like a soothing balm, a reminder of why I was doing this, the reason I had to swallow my pride and play along with my father’s charade. If I wanted to overpower him and expose him, I had to keep my emotions in check; I needed to be the master of deception that my father had groomed me to be.
The iron gates parted before me, and I eased the Maserati onto the winding drive that led to the main house.
I pulled to a stop in the circular drive in front of the imposing entrance, my heartbeat galloping as I killed the engine and stepped out onto the intricately designed pavers.
The massive front doors swung open before I could reach for the ornate knocker, and a familiar face emerged.
“Dante,” Marco greeted me, his voice a low rumble as he stepped aside to let me pass.
I nodded, jaw clenched as I brushed past him and into the cavernous foyer.
“He’s in the study,” Marco called after me. “Be careful, hermano.”
I acknowledged his words with a curt nod, my steps faltering before I forced myself onwards.
As I approached the doors, the muffled sound of voices reached my ears—my father’s deep baritone punctuated by the occasional higher-pitched response of one of his henchmen. I steeled myself, straightening my shoulders and schooling my features into a mask of impassivity before reaching for the brass handle and pushing the door open.
My father sat behind his massive mahogany desk, his imposing frame silhouetted against the windows overlooking the manicured grounds. “Dante,” he greeted me, his voice a low rumble. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d forgotten your way home, hijo.”
I felt Tony’s eyes upon me, his gaze sharp and assessing as he took in my every move. Tony had been by my father’s side for decades, the enforcer who helped build the Reyes cartel into the sprawling criminal empire it was today.
“Never, Father,” I said, my voice steady despite the turmoil within me. “I’ve simply been... preoccupied with matters of business.”
Ricardo’s eyes narrowed, his lips curving into a humorless smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Ah, yes,” he drawled, leaning back in his chair. “Your little... side ventures. Tell me, Dante, how is that strip club of yours faring these days? Still not turning a profit?”
The barb was deliberate, a not-so-subtle jab at my efforts to distance myself from the cartel’s more unsavory activities. But I refused to take the bait, refused to let my father see the chink in my armor his words were designed to exploit.
“Club Diablo is doing just fine, Father,” I said evenly. “I’ve been exploring new avenues for expansion, some legitimate business opportunities that could prove quite lucrative.”
Ricardo’s brow arched. “Legitimate, you say?” he scoffed, his fingers drumming the polished surface of his desk. “And what would the heir to my empire want with legitimate businesses?”
I was done with his manipulation games. “I am not here to discuss the club or my other business ideas. I am here to discuss your mole in the DEA.”
My father tried to hide his surprise, but I could read him like a book. He nodded to his lieutenant. “Tony, we can continue our business later. I need to have a word with my idiot of a son here.”
Not until Tony was out of the room did my father look at me again. “What makes you think I have a mole in the DEA, son?” he asked, studying me intensely.
I leaned over his desk. “Because I know you had Natalia’s partner killed because he was getting too close,” I breathed.
A flicker of surprise crossed his features, quickly masked by that infuriatingly calm demeanor he always adopted. “Our little Agent Ramirez has been filling your head with stories.” He leaned back, steepling his fingers as he regarded me with a predatory gaze. “So what if I had? That misguided pup stuck his nose where it didn’t belong. He got what was coming to him.”
The callous disregard in his tone made my stomach churn. I knew my father was nothing but a ruthless monster who placed no value on innocent lives, all in the name of protecting his precious empire, but to go against his own blood.
“You son of a bitch,” I growled, taking a menacing step forward. “You set me up as bait to draw them in, knowing full well people would die.”
Ricardo’s smile widened, cold and predatory. “Of course I did, mijo. This is war, and in war, there are always casualties.” He spread his hands in a mock gesture. “Sacrifices must be made for the greater good of our organization.”
“Sacrifices?” I spat the word like a curse, my hands balling into fists. “You mean cold-blooded murder.”
He waved a dismissive hand, that maddening smirk never wavering. “Call it what you will. The fact remains that your little DEA girlfriend and her partner made the mistake of crossing me.”
Something in me snapped, the last thread of respect I’d harbored for the man who had sired me fraying and unraveling. I lunged forward, slamming my palms down on his desk with enough force to make the heavy oak shudder.
“You lying, manipulative bastard,” I snarled, leaning across the expanse of polished wood until our faces were mere inches apart. “You used me as a pawn in your twisted game. Put me in the crosshairs without a second thought.”
Ricardo met my gaze unflinchingly, his cold, dead eyes betraying not a shred of remorse. “I did what was necessary to protect our interests, our legacy. If a few expendable pawns had to be sacrificed along the way, so be it.” His lips curled into a sneer. “Don’t try to act so high and mighty, Dante. You’re cut from the same ruthless cloth as the rest of us. It’s in your blood.”
I recoiled as if he’d struck me, his words hitting me like a physical blow. Was he right? Had the poison of this life, this brutal existence, corrupted me so thoroughly that I was no better than him—a soulless monster concerned only with power and self-preservation?
No. I refused to believe that. Not after everything I’d seen, everything Natalia had shown me about honor and justice and doing the right thing, no matter the cost.
“You’re wrong,” I rasped. “I’m not like you, old man. Not anymore.”
He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers again as he studied me with cold calculation. “I must say, I’m surprised seeing you jeopardize everything we stand for, all for a piece of ass with a badge.”
White-hot fury lanced through me at his dismissive words, his utter disregard for the woman who had shown me there was more to life than this twisted world of violence and depravity.
“Watch your fucking mouth,” I snarled, my body coiled tight with barely contained rage. “Natalia is worth more than you could ever comprehend, you soulless prick.”
A cruel smile twisted Ricardo’s thin lips. “Such passion,” he mocked. “Tell me, does she know what you’re capable of? The atrocities you’ve committed in service of this ‘twisted world’?” He tisked again, his eyes glittering with malicious glee. “I’d be careful if I were you, mijo. Wouldn’t want your little girlfriend to see the real Dante Reyes, now would we?”
I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms as I fought to maintain my composure despite my father’s taunts. “You don’t know a damn thing about Natalia,” I ground out. “She’s more special than you could ever imagine, old man. Stronger than both of us.”
A cruel chuckle rumbled from deep within his chest, the sound grating on my frayed nerves. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?” He leaned forward, his eyes glittering with malice. “I’m going to enjoy watching her break.”
White-hot rage surged at the implied threat, boiling my blood. I saw red, focused on a primal urge—to wipe that smug grin off my father’s face with my bare hands.
In a blur of motion, I lunged across the desk, my fingers closing around the starched collar of his shirt as I hauled him bodily out of his chair. Ricardo’s eyes went wide with shock and fear as I slammed him against the wall, the heavy thud reverberating through the room like a gunshot.
“You listen to me, you twisted piece of shit,” I snarled, my face mere inches from his. “If you so much as breathe in Natalia’s direction, I’ll put you in the ground myself. Do you hear me?”
For the first time in my life, I saw a flicker of genuine fear in my father’s eyes. Gone was the cocky bravado, the unshakable confidence that had allowed him to commit atrocity after atrocity without a shred of remorse. At that moment, he was just a sad, pathetic old man staring down the barrel of his mortality.
“You wouldn’t dare,” he rasped, his voice thin and reedy. “I’m your father, your blood.”
A bitter laugh tore from my throat, harsh and mocking. “Blood? Is that what you think binds us together, old man? All I see when I look at you is a twisted, soulless monster who would sell his offspring to the devil if it meant clinging to his precious power for a little while longer.”
Ricardo opened his mouth to spew more of his venomous rhetoric, but I cut him off with a vicious shake that snapped his head back against the wall.
“Not another word,” I growled. “From this moment on, you and I are done. This whole bloody empire you’ve built on a foundation of lies and corpses—it’s over. I’m going to burn it all to the ground, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
His eyes widened, the tendons in his scrawny neck straining as he fought for breath. “You ungrateful whelp,” he choked out. “After everything I’ve done for you, for this family-“
“This isn’t a family!” I roared, giving him another vicious shake. “It’s a goddamn crime syndicate, a blight on the face of humanity! And I will be the one to put it in its grave once and for all.”
With a snarl of disgust, I released my grip, letting the withered husk of the man who had once struck fear into the hearts of entire cartels crumple to the floor in an undignified heap. My father coughed and sputtered, his bloodshot eyes swimming with rage as he glared up at me.
“Mark my words, boy,” he gasped, his voice a rasping croak. “You turn your back on everything we’ve built, and there will be consequences. Dire ones. I’m coming after you.”
I met his gaze without flinching, my jaw set in a hard line. “I’m counting on it.”
Turning on my heel, I strode from the office without a backward glance, the taste of liberation mingling with the bitter tang of regret on my tongue. There was no going back now - I had crossed the Rubicon and burned the bridges that had once bound me to this life of violence and depravity.
As I emerged into the hallway, I caught sight of Marco waiting for me, my oldest friend, and my brother in all but blood.
“Dante,” Marco’s voice rumbled. “You alright, bro? You look like you’ve just come face-to-face with a ghost. So much for your plan of playing his good son to find proof, huh?”
A laugh escaped me, raw and humorless. “New plan,” I said, my voice a taut wire ready to snap. “That bastard just confirmed my worst fears – he threw me to the wolves in that warehouse sting. He made me a sitting duck for the DEA. And that’s not even the worst of it. He ordered that DEA agent’s death.”
Marco’s face hardened, a shadow passing over his features. “Motherfucker,” he hissed under his breath, his disgust palpable. “But what’s his game? Why gamble with your neck and risk drawing the heat from the DEA?”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “My father’s got a rat in the DEA’s ranks, someone who’s been keeping him in the loop, helping him dodge the feds for decades. He wanted to keep his precious mole around, so when Natalia’s partner got close to the mole, Ricardo ordered him killed.”
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Marco blurted, his disbelief etched across his face.
“There’s no going back now. I’m taking down my father. Are you with me?”
Marco’s resolve solidified, his eyes blazing with the unwavering loyalty born from a lifetime of shared battles. “Whatever it takes, I’m with you. To the bitter end.”
I clasped his shoulder, gratitude surging through me. “Thanks, Marco,” I said, my eyes sweeping over the gilded cage of my father’s mansion. “Let’s bounce from this shithole.”
With a nod, Marco’s grin returned, slow and full of promise. “No need to say it twice, hermano,” he said, gesturing toward the exit. “I’ve got the perfect thing to take your mind off this and rethink our new plan.”
Half an hour later, the familiar scent of gunpowder and oiled metal filled my nostrils as Marco and I stepped into the private shooting range. The rhythmic pop of gunfire echoed through the cavernous space, a sound that once filled me with a sense of purpose and belonging. Now, it just reminded me of the life I was trying to leave behind.
Marco clapped me on the shoulder, his voice cutting through the noise. “Alright, hermano. Time to blow off some steam and clear that head of yours.”
He handed me a sleek Beretta 92, its weight a comforting presence in my hand. We took our positions on the firing line, and I slammed the magazine home, racked the slide, and chambered a round with practiced ease.
“Fire at will,” Marco barked, and I squeezed the trigger.
With each successive shot, I felt the tension ebb from my body, anger and frustration bleeding away with every spent casing that hit the concrete floor. It was cathartic, a release valve for the maelstrom of emotions threatening to consume me.
As we paused to reload, Marco turned to me, his eyes narrowed in concentration. “So, what’s the new plan, Dante? We can’t just sit around waiting for your old man to make his move.”
I exhaled slowly, considering our options. “We need proof, Marco. Hard evidence of my father’s illegal dealings that we can hand over to the feds.”
Marco nodded, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “You know, I’ve been thinking. Your father’s been spending a lot of time at that new office building downtown lately. Something’s going on there, I can feel it.”
My interest piqued. “What kind of something?”
“Not sure,” Marco admitted. “But he’s been real secretive about it. Extra security, restricted access. It’s not like him to be so paranoid.”
A plan began to form in my mind, the pieces falling into place. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
A slow grin spread across Marco’s face. “Break-in?”
I nodded, feeling a surge of adrenaline at the prospect. “If there’s anything incriminating, it’ll be there. We get in, find the evidence, and get out.”
“It’s risky,” Marco warned, but I could see the excitement in his eyes. “Your old man’s security is no joke.”
“That’s why I’ve got you, brother,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “There’s no one I’d rather have watching my back.”
Marco’s grin widened. “Alright, let’s do this. But we’ll need to plan carefully. Surveillance, security systems, entry points – we need to cover all our bases.”
I nodded, feeling a renewed sense of purpose. “We’ll start tonight. Scope out the building, figure out the weak points.”
As we turned back to the targets, squeezing off another round of shots, I felt a glimmer of hope. This was it – our chance to bring down my father’s empire and maybe, just maybe, find a way out of this mess.
With each bullet that found its mark, I imagined I was chipping away at the walls of lies and deceit that had surrounded me for so long. And for the first time in days, I allowed myself to believe that there might be a light at the end of this dark tunnel – a future where Natalia and I could be together, free from the shadows of my past.
“Ready for another round?” Marco asked, breaking me from my thoughts.
I nodded, a determined smile playing on my lips. “Let’s do it. We’ve got work to do.”