30. Alessandro
ALESSANDRO
I sit alone in my office, the memories of fucking Isabella on my desk replaced by a bitter hatred.
The security footage plays on loop. Enrico Vitale entering my warehouse with my key, the same key that had been in my desk the night Isabella came to me.
Bourbon burns my throat but doesn't touch the cold spreading through my chest. I trusted her. I hadn’t wanted to. I thought I’d guarded against it for just this reason. But the hurt and anger at her betrayal tells me I failed.
“Fucking fool,” I mutter to myself, pouring another drink. I want to empty the bottle but I can’t afford to get drunk. Not when the Vitales are knocking on my doorstep.
A knock at the door interrupts my self-recrimination. Adriano enters without waiting for permission, his face grim.
“You should eat something.” He sets a plate with a bagel on it. “The chef is—”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Too fucking bad. You need to eat to—”
“Jesus, you sound like a mother.”
He leans over my desk. “I don’t want to die because you’re not levelheaded or strong. Eat the fucking bagel.”
Asshole. I take a bite of the bagel. “Happy?”
“Not nearly.” He sits in the chair in front of my desk.
“They all need to go. The best way to avoid a full out war is to take out the family.”
Adriano's expression doesn't change. He's always been the executioner of our family, so the talk of eliminating people doesn’t bother him. "All of them?”
I know he’s asking about Isabella and perhaps her mother. We’ve always been known not to hurt women or children. Mrs. Vitale is a shell of a woman, not worth killing. Then again, she’s clearly miserable. Perhaps she’d welcome death.
But Isabella…
The security footage loops again. Enrico slipping into the building using the key Isabella had to have handed him.
“Mrs. Vitale can live, but she needs to leave.”
Adriano studies me. “And your wife?”
“They destroyed a shipment worth millions. They infiltrated our operation through her."
Adriano arches a brow. "You're sure about that?"
I glare at him. “You’ve seen the footage. Enrico had my key. The key I kept right here.” I open and then slam the drawer. “The only person who could have given it to him was Isabella."
"The same Isabella who looked at you like you hung the fucking moon?" Adriano shakes his head. “I don’t know. You need to be sure, Alessandro.”
"Yeah, I liked her." Adriano's admission surprises me. "Reminded me of Eva, actually. That same fire underneath all that proper bullshit."
Eva betrayed us as well, although the circumstances were slightly different. And Eva was coerced and eventually tried to end her betrayal by faking her death. Isabella was a willing participant.
"That's not the comparison you want to make right now," I warn.
"No? Eva betrayed me, lied to me, and still ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. Maybe I'm not the best judge of character, but I'm a pretty good judge of love."
"This isn't about love," I spit.
"Bullshit." Adriano leans forward. "If it were just business, you wouldn't be drinking yourself stupid at five in the morning."
I drop my gaze to the video again, unable to face my brother's piercing gaze. “This alliance is over. It’s time to deal with the Vitales once and for all.”
"So kill Marco and Enrico." Adriano shrugs. "But Isabella? Your wife? The mother of your potential children?"
My head snaps up. "What did you say?"
"I said kill the ones who deserve it. Not the—"
"No. About children."
Adriano shrugs. “Nothing. Just that she’s your wife and could be the mother of your heir.”
My gut clenches. “Did she say something—”
Adriano rolls his eyes. “No. I’m just saying… if you fucked her, then there’s a possibility.” He narrows his eyes at me. “Unless you used protection, which, knowing you, you probably did.”
Except I didn’t. Not once.
Adriano rises. “I’m going to deal with the warehouse and talk to my men. I’ve got some eyes on Vitale haunts. There’s a titty club Enrico likes. It doesn’t open until noon, but I know he’s partial to one of the girls and often shows up early.”
“Good.”
“Eat, Alessandro. Get some rest. Then we’ll take those motherfuckers out.”
When he's gone, I stare at my empty glass, my thoughts consumed with the question. Could Isabella be pregnant? The possibility changes everything and nothing at all.
She’d have told me, I decide. What better way to make sure I kept her here than to tell me a Dante child was growing inside her? Hell, considering her betrayal, I’m surprised she didn’t lie and tell me she was pregnant just for that reason. No. She’s not carrying my child.
The next few days are filled with intel gathering as we make a plan to eliminate the Vitale family. But Adriano continues to push me on whether or not to include Isabella. “We don’t kill women,” he argues.
“You have no direct proof.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
But what other explanation could there be? No one is allowed in my office when I’m not here.
Ultimately, I decide to call Luca to get his take.
He answers on the second ring. "Alessandro."
"I need your perspective." The words are difficult to get out. Alessandro Dante doesn't ask for help, especially from a younger brother who’d been exiled. But Luca has built his own business from scratch. If anyone can give me an outside perspective, it’s him. "It's about Isabella."
“Your wife? I’m not a marriage counselor—”
“I don’t need marriage advice,” I snap. I explain the situation, all the way back to the attacks on the warehouses during the honeymoon, the poisoned whiskey, and now the missing key used by Enrico to destroy my product.
“You're overthinking this," Luca says. "The Vitales have been a cancer in our operation for years. Marco's been waiting for an opportunity since before Father died."
I pace my office, unable to sit still. "I’m prepared for war. What I’m not sure is what to do about Isabella—"
"She’s a Vitale." His voice hardens. "Blood matters, Alessandro. That’s why you tossed her out, right? You know what you know.”
I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose, realizing I was hoping he would talk me out of killing her.
“Adriano brought up her being pregnant… she never said, but…” Fuck, I don’t want to tell my little brother I didn’t use a condom.
“Unless you plan to bring her back into the Dante family, it’s all the more reason to end this now. You think they won't use that child against you? Train it to hate you? To one day take everything you built?"
I rub my hand over my chest where an unsettling feeling grows. Can I really kill my wife?
“You know how I’d play it. Scorched earth. That's the only language these people understand. Eliminate the entire family. Make an example that will resonate for generations."
I don’t respond.
“Your silence tells me you’re unsure whether she is involved.”
I close my eyes, seeing her face the moment I dragged her from bed to toss her out of my home. The confusion in her eyes had seemed genuine.
"What if I'm wrong?"
"Then you're wrong." Luca's tone is matter-of-fact. "Better to eliminate a potential threat than leave one alive to destroy everything. Father taught us that."
"She's my wife."
"She's your weakness. And in our world, weakness gets you killed, another lesson Father taught." He pauses. "You called because you already know what needs to be done. You just want someone to tell you it's okay."
But it's not okay. None of this is okay. And the thought of Isabella dead by my command makes me physically ill.
"You were the one who told me Isabella could be an asset against her family," I remind Luca. "That first night after the wedding rehearsal. You said if I played it right—"
“I was wrong," Luca interrupts sharply. "She wasn’t as innocent and na?ve as we thought.”
Of all the decisions I’ve had to make since becoming Don, this is by far the most difficult. If I’m wrong, the guilt will consume me. The fact that I feel guilt means Isabella has gotten into my heart. The best thing would be to tear her out.
"Alessandro," he finally says, "what's really going on here? Is this about uncertainty... or is it about her?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Bullshit. I've watched you sacrifice everything for this family. I've seen you make impossible decisions without blinking. Yet here you are, hesitating to eliminate a clear threat."
"The evidence—"
"Is damning. You know it. I know it." He sighs. "So what's different this time? What makes Isabella Vitale the exception to every rule we've lived by except that she’s a woman?"
What does make her different? The way she challenged me from the start? How she never cowered, even when she should have? The vulnerability in her eyes when she confessed she was falling for me?
"I need to be certain," I manage.
“If you’re not certain, why did you send her back to her family? At this point, you’ve abandoned her and her family is probably using her anger at that to their advantage. If she wasn’t working with her father before, she surely is now.”
Fuck.
"I can only surmise that your doubt comes from having feelings for her. Are you in love with her, Alessandro?"
Am I? Is that what this emptiness is? So what if it is? What I want or need isn’t important.
"It doesn't matter what I feel. This is about the safety of our family."
"It matters," Luca counters. "Because it's clouding your judgment."
He's right. But knowing it doesn't make the answer any clearer.
"Whatever you decide," Luca says, "I'm with you. But Alessandro... be sure. Be absolutely fucking sure. Because this isn't a decision you can take back."
I am sure. There’s no other explanation. Is there?
“And if you need me, I’ll be there for you. I wouldn’t mind killing a few Vitales.”
“Thank you, Luca.”
When I end the call, I stare at the security footage one more time. Enrico, the key, the destruction. The evidence seems irrefutable.
And yet…
I close my eyes, seeing Isabella's face as I hauled her out of bed and made her leave. The shock. The confusion. The hurt.
The Vitale family must pay for what they've done. Of that, I have no doubt. Marco and Enrico have signed their death warrants with their treachery.
But Isabella...
My heart constricts like it’s in a fucking vise. I realize that Luca might be right. I might love my wife.