Alessandro
It’s past ten when I return home, but my day isn’t done. I head straight to my home office with a glance toward the stairs and an urge to forgo the rest of my work to lie with my wife instead.
Unfortunately, there’s more to do and my first priority is the family business.
To keep us prosperous and safe. I know Isabella understands.
It’s partly what makes her a good wife. And I can’t deny that while the burden of responsibility is still heavy, there’s something about having her by my side that makes it more bearable.
As I sit at my desk, the memory of her coming to my office last night in her red lingerie and sucking my dick comes back to me.
"Fuck," I mutter, running a hand over my face. I can’t keep letting her distract me from my duty. My father would surely be disappointed to learn I was letting a woman cloud my mind.
Still, I can't bring myself to regret it. For the first time in my life, I'm allowing myself to have something of my own. Something that isn’t only about the family or business.
I rise from my chair, suddenly impatient to see her. The empire can wait until morning. Tonight, I just want to be the man Isabella sees when she looks at me. Not Don Dante. Just Alessandro.
The phone rings, and I answer without checking the caller ID, the late hour suggesting bad news.
"Don Dante."
"Boss, it's Adriano. We've got a situation at the south warehouse."
My stomach tightens. "What kind of situation?"
"Break-in. The security system was bypassed. You need to see this yourself."
Fuck. The south warehouse houses our largest shipment of imported goods, both legitimate and otherwise.
"Anyone hurt?"
"Three down but not dead. Whoever did this knew what they were doing."
"I'm on my way." I hang up, already moving toward the door.
The peace I felt moments ago evaporates. This is my reality, my duty. Not domestic bliss with Isabella, but vigilance over the business.
I grab my jacket and gun, checking the magazine before holstering it.
As I pass through the main hall, I pause again at the bottom of the staircase, looking up toward where Isabella sleeps.
I consider waking her, telling her I'll be late, but decide against it.
Let her rest without worrying about this latest crisis.
Instead, I text my head of security to double the guards around the property. If someone's bold enough to hit my warehouse, they might try for my home next.
As I drive, I can’t help but wonder if this is Marco, fucking with me again. I still don’t have proof about the last attacks. But Marco has been suspiciously quiet since our last confrontation.
When I arrive at the warehouse, Adriano and Dario, a newly promoted captain, are waiting outside with four armed men. The warehouse looks untouched from the exterior.
"Show me," I command, following them inside.
I expect to find shipments missing. Instead, I find them destroyed.
"The security footage?"
"Looped. Professional job. They knew exactly where the cameras were."
I walk through the carnage, my shoes crunching over broken glass. This isn't about profit. Thieves would have taken the goods. This is about retaliation.
"The guards?"
"Found them unconscious. Drugged, not beaten."
I kneel to examine a slashed crate. "How did they get in?"
"That's the thing, Boss." Dario shifts uncomfortably. "The security system doesn’t indicate a break-in. No alarms triggered."
"Inside job?"
“Likely,” Adriano says. “This warehouse requires a key.”
I look at him as my gut clenches.
“A key. All of them are accounted for except yours.”
I reach into my pocket, pulling out the keychain and locating the key.
“What about the one in your office?” Adriano asks.
It takes me a minute to process what he’s asking. But it’s not possible that anyone would take a key from my office. No one is allowed in there without me.
“I’ll check when I get home. Right now, I want everyone who had knowledge of this shipment in my office tomorrow morning."
“The security on the building was bypassed,” Adriano starts as he pulls up something on his phone. “but they didn’t seem to know about the secondary exterior cameras.”
I added the additional surveillance after the Bratva attacks.
Adriano hands me his phone, and I watch the video of a black SUV pulling up. The driver's door opens, and Enrico Vitale steps out along with several other men.
"Fucking hell.” Rage and betrayal boil inside me as I grapple with the treachery of Isabella's family. Enrico walks directly to the door, removes something from his pocket, and lets himself in without hesitation or difficulty.
He had a key.
I glance at Adriano, who gives me a pointed stare. “Like I said, all keys are accounted for—”
I zoom in, freeze the frame, enhance the image. There's no doubt. The specialized titanium key is clearly visible in his hand.
“I need to check my office.”
But how would he have gotten the key? The key never leaves my office. It’s a backup.
Memories flood back of Isabella in my office. On my desk. Papers scattered across the floor. Her insistence on cleaning up afterward. Had I turned my back on her for some reason?
Fury burns in my gut.
“What are you thinking?” Adriano asks.
I turn to him, my rage barely containable. "I’ve got to go home."
"What about the warehouse?"
I turn to Dario. "Post guards. No one touches anything until I say so."
I’m already heading to my car when Adriano falls in step with me. “What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure yet.” I open the car door and slide in.
“I’m coming with you.” Adriano rushes to the passenger side and gets in just as I’m putting the car into gear.
I’m a fucking fool.
“What’s going through your head?” Adriano clips his seat belt as I put my foot on the gas and shoot off toward the house.
“There’s only one way Enrico could have gotten the key.” I glance at him. “Through Isabella.”
He scoffs. “No way.”
"I saw the footage myself. Enrico had my key. The only person who could have given it to him was Isabella."
“She looks at you like you hang the fucking moon. I don’t think—”
"She played us all." The pain in my chest sharpens, and I hate myself for my weakness. "Even you."
Thankfully, Adriano seems to consider that. “If that’s true, she’s a good actress.”
“She’s a Vitale.”
I tear back toward the estate. Images of Isabella flash before me. Every time she brought me coffee or a meal while I worked. Her seduction last night. Her insistence on helping me clean up. Had it all been calculated?
I want to deny it. Want to believe she's different from her family. But if that key isn’t in my desk, I’ll have to accept the truth that I’ve been betrayed by my own wife. Led by my dick.
My tires screech as I turn onto the long driveway leading to our estate.
Adriano presses his hand on the dashboard as I slam on the breaks. “It might not be her—”
“If the key isn’t there, it has to be her.”
“What will you do?”
I don’t answer as I exit the car and rush through the front door.
Inside, the house is quiet, most of the staff having retired for the night. I stride to my office, rounding my desk and opening the drawer, my gaze going to the small container the key sits in.
“Well?” Adriano says from the door of my office.
“It’s gone.” I rifle through the drawer, praying the key fell out of the container. I fucked Isabella hard and the desk rocked underneath us. But it’s not here.
I look up at Adriano. “Fuck.”
“What are you going to do?”
My father's voice echoes in my head. Never show mercy to traitors, Alessandro. It only takes one to bring down an empire.
I take a deep breath, steadying myself, but the rage is too much for me to control.
“Alessandro?” Adriano prods for an answer.
“The Vitales… they all die.”