Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ALESSANDRO
"We are looking at a classic viper in the nest, Alessandro," Salvatore barks, slamming his heavy fist onto the mahogany table.
I sit back in my leather chair, my expression a perfectly carved mask of indifference, though my patience is already wearing razor-thin.
The cigar smoke in the private boardroom is thick enough to choke a lesser man.
Around the table sit the elders—Vittorio, Enzo, and Salvatore.
Today, they are mourning. They are discussing Nino’s sudden, undignified death, their faces lined with a mixture of grief and deep, paranoid confusion.
"The man survives three turf wars, two assassination attempts, and a federal indictment," Vittorio mutters, shaking his head as he stares down at his glass of amber bourbon.
"And you are telling me he slips on a wet tile floor in his own bathroom? It makes no damn sense. It’s an insult to his legacy. "
"It isn't an accident," Salvatore insists, leaning forward, his eyes gleaming with suspicion.
"I’m telling you, it might be his wife, Giulia, who killed him.
Young women like her are always after the money.
She saw an opportunity to inherit the estate, the secret accounts, and she greased that floor. Mark my words."
I let out a slow, controlled breath, tapping the ash off my cigar into the crystal tray. "Giulia has been married to Nino for ten years, Salvatore. If she was after a quick payout, she wouldn’t wait a decade, playing the doting mafia wife while he grows old and senile."
Vittorio waves his hand dismissively, his diamond pinky ring catching the dim light of the chandelier.
"It doesn’t matter. Ten years, two years, twenty years—a woman's loyalty is only as strong as her latest grievance.
The moment Nino started losing his grip on the docks, she probably smelled the blood in the water.
We need to question her before she flees the country with his assets. "
Enzo remains quiet, nodding in agreement with his peers.
I look around the room, noting the empty seat to my right.
Valerio isn't present; I keep him out of this specific briefing to ensure his eyes stay on the street tracking Luca's coordinates.
Dealing with these paranoid old men is my cross to bear alone this afternoon.
"We don't move against an elder’s widow on a hunch," I say, my voice dropping into a low, authoritative register that silences the table. "We have a war with Luca on our hands. I won't have us wasting resources chasing ghosts in a bathroom."
Enzo snaps, leaning aggressively over the table. "So, what would you do, Alessandro? Just sit back and let our elders get picked off one by one?"
I narrow my eyes, the temperature in the room plummeting to absolute zero. I lean forward, pinning him with a stare that has made hardened men beg for their lives. "Watch your tone with me, Enzo, if you don't want trouble. I am the Don of this family, not your subordinate."
He snaps his mouth shut, his face flushing a deep, angry red as he slowly sinks back into his chair.
“Nino slipped and died. There’s no conspiracy theory here.
It can happen to the best of us. He’s dead and he’s gone.
The end.” I look around the table, making sure the rest of them understand who is in charge here.
"Our priority is Luca. We have to find him, neutralize him, and secure our territories. Everything else is a distraction."
Before anyone can respond, the heavy oak doors of the boardroom burst open and Valerio walks in. I’m already halfway up my seat at the look in his eyes. Valerio knows exactly when not to interrupt me, and for him to breach a secure meeting with the elders, I am certain he has a damn good reason.
The elders watch in tense silence as Valerio strides directly to the head of the table, leans close to my ear, and whispers, "We just got a text from Luca's burner."
The blood in my veins turns to ice. I look at him, my voice a deadly murmur. "What is the text about?"
Instead of answering verbally, he holds out a secure phone. My eyes scan the glowing screen, reading the words that instantly stop my heart:
“Meet me here by 2 pm if you want to see Sienna alive again.”
There’s an address link below.
A rare, violent wave of panic surges straight up my throat. I look at Valerio, the mask of the Don cracking completely. "I thought Sienna was at the house with Camilla. I told her to bring Camilla home."
"I thought so too," Valerio says, his own voice tight with mounting dread. "But I called the estate the second I got the text. The house staff said she hasn’t returned. I also tried to call the three guards who went with her, but none of them were answering their radios or phones. They’re entirely off the grid. "
The room feels like it's spinning. I run a hand through my hair, gripping the strands hard as the terrifying reality sets in. "Fuck."
Enzo looks between us, his dark eyes sharp. "Alessandro? What's wrong? What happened?"
I don't owe them an explanation, and I don't have a single second to waste. It’s not like they’ve ever been helpful to me before. I turn to the elders, my face completely pale but set in a murderous expression. "Meeting dismissed."
Without waiting for their protests, I turn on my heel and storm out of the boardroom with Valerio right at my heels, ready to kill anyone who stands in my way.
My frantic panic instantly solidifies into a cold, lethal fury. The moment we reach the car and slam the doors shut, the map of the city flashes in my mind. Luca wants an execution, but I am going to give him a massacre.
"We can't just ride in there blind," Valerio says, his hands gripping the steering wheel as he tears out of the parking lot. "It's a trap, Alessandro. He's expecting you to lose your mind and rush to the building alone."
"I know," I say, my voice sounding completely detached, hollowed out by pure rage. "And it would be foolish to walk into that warehouse by myself, no matter how badly I want to rip his throat out with my bare hands."
We plan quickly on the drive back, our voices sharp as we coordinate the geometry of the strike. We arrange for our own vanguard to approach the location unseen, establishing a tight perimeter around the warehouse long before my vehicle even pulls up to the gates.
The second we arrive back at the estate, the entire security detail knows something is deeply wrong. We gather the inner circle immediately in the tactical meeting room, the large digital map of the docks glowing against the wall.
I stand at the head of the table, looking at the faces of my most ruthless soldiers. I begin to allocate my men and give them their orders.
"We are doing a silent envelopment," I command, my finger tapping a grid on the screen.
"I want snipers on the adjacent rooftops.
I want breached entries covered. Every single one of you knows exactly how a clean sweep works.
You approach that location as ghosts. You do not breathe, you do not blink, and you do not make a sound until I give the signal. "
I lean over the table, my eyes locking onto every man in the room, letting the raw, murderous promise of my words sink into their skin.
"If Luca catches wind of a single shadow," I whisper, the threat hanging heavy in the room, "if any of you fuck up and ruin this operation, Luca won't have the chance to kill you. I will do it myself. Move out."
The men file out of the room, their boots heavy against the floor, leaving behind a silence thick with anticipation.
Valerio sighs into the quiet, his voice low but steady. "It’ll be fine. We’ll find Sienna in one piece."
"We better," I reply, the words tasting like ash.
By 1:00 PM, Valerio and I finally leave the estate, heading straight toward Luca’s coordinates. The updates from our men are already coming in—everyone is in position, waiting for the signal.
I am primed for blood, ready to bring Sienna back from the brink and make Luca regret ever putting his hands on what belongs to me.
Today, Luca's luck runs out. Today, I will kill him.
When we arrive at the abandoned warehouse, I step inside, the heavy air smelling of dust and impending violence. Luca is waiting for me, and I’m not surprised Pietro is also there, standing alongside several of the Kuznetsovs' most important men—a clear sign of how deep this betrayal runs.
No one speaks, the tension in the room too thick to be cut by a knife.
Then, my eyes immediately find her.
Sienna is on the ground, restrained and bruised, but her eyes are open.
She is still conscious. Seeing her like that forces a terrifying, absolute calm over me.
Every instinct screams to tear the room apart, but I force myself to go dangerously still.
I don't rush forward. Luca wants me emotional; he wants me careless.
I won't give him the satisfaction. But as I stand there, locking eyes with her, my focus never leaves Sienna.
“The rules of engagement have changed, Alessandro," Luca says, stepping into the weak shaft of light cutting through the warehouse roof.
He gestures down at Sienna like she is nothing more than a piece of disputed territory. "You want her breathing? You sign over the Gallo name, the assets, the routes. Everything. Walk away, and she goes with you. Stay, and you watch her die."
Beside him, Pietro let out a low, wet laugh. He is practically vibrating with the thrill of it, eyes darting between us, convinced they have finally found the loose thread that would unravel my entire existence.
On the concrete floor, Sienna shifts, a harsh cough racking her chest. She forces her chin up, her gaze burning into mine through the grime and blood on her face. "Alessandro, don't," she rasps, her voice cracking under the strain. "Don't you dare give him—"
"Sienna."