Chapter 3 - The Betrayal
In my world, loyalty was the only currency that mattered. Without it, you were dead.
It was a simple ledger, really. Clara’s younger brother, Toby—a reckless punk she had foolishly allowed to stay in the servants’ quarters on the edge of the estate—had decided he was smart enough to skim fifty thousand dollars from the cash drops running through our primary laundering front.
He thought because his sister cleaned my floors, he had immunity.
Marco brought the audit reports to my desk just after midnight. The numbers didn't lie. Toby’s signature was on the transfer slips, and our security cameras caught him walking out of the counting room with a bulging duffel bag.
Lily was already asleep in the small cot Clara had set up in the corner of the study. Her breathing was soft, rhythmic, and safe.
I looked at the report, my jaw tightening into iron.
“Bring him in,” I ordered Marco, my voice devoid of mercy. “And bring Clara.”
Ten minutes later, Toby was thrown onto the Persian rug, weeping and begging for his life, while Clara stood frozen in the doorway, her face draining of all color as she realized what her brother had done.
“Please, Mr. Romano! It was a loan! I was going to pay it back!” Toby screamed, pressing his forehead into the blood-red carpet.
“In my family, stealing is not a loan. It’s an execution,” I said quietly. I didn't shout. I didn't need to. The quiet deadliness in my tone made Marco grip the Glock at his side.
Clara fell to her knees beside her brother, wrapping her arms around him, sobbing hysterically. “Please, Alessandro! He’s all I have left! Please have mercy on him!”
I looked down at them, feeling the cold, familiar armor of the crime boss slide back over my soul. Emotions were liabilities. Weakness invited destruction. If I let Toby go, my men would lose respect, and my enemies would smell blood.
“Twenty-four hours,” I ordered, looking directly at Clara, my voice like crushed glass. “To pack your things. You’re both gone. Get out of my sight.”
Clara stopped crying. She looked up at me, her eyes hollow, stripped of all hope. She nodded slowly, hauled her worthless brother to his feet, and dragged him out of the study without another word.
I sat back down in my chair, staring at the empty doorway.
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I didn't know Lily was awake in the corner.
I didn't know she had slipped out from beneath her blankets, her little bare feet making no sound against the wood.
