Chapter 8 - Severing the Roots
That same night, the city of Grayhaven slept under a blanket of cold winter rain, unaware of the quiet reckoning taking place behind the iron gates of Villa Falco.
The two intruders had already spilled everything under Matteo’s efficient, relentless interrogation. They had named their handlers in the Moretti family, and more importantly, they had confirmed the source of the leak: Valentina Corsi. Frustrated by her exile and driven by bitter spite, she had sold the household layout and the domestic routine to the highest bidder among her late husband's old associates.
In the dimly lit basement of the villa, Sebastiano stood watching as two guards hauled a bound and gagged Valentina into the center of the concrete room.
She looked frantic, her expensive silk blouse stained with mud from being dragged out of her city townhouse an hour earlier, her hair disheveled. When the guards pulled the gag from her mouth, she immediately began to scream.
"You can't do this, Sebastiano! I am your blood! I am a Corsi!"
Sebastiano stepped out of the shadows. He did not look angry; his expression was entirely blank, cold, and final.
"You traded the safety of this house to men who wanted to shed blood inside my walls," Sebastiano said, his voice echoing off the damp stone. "You traded the lives of innocent people to satisfy your petty vanity."
"They were just servants!" Valentina shrieked, panic breaking through her defiance. "A foreign maid and a bastard brat! They don't matter!"
Sebastiano raised a single hand. Matteo stepped forward, holding out a thick manila envelope and a plane ticket.
"You are done here, Valentina," Sebastiano said quietly. "You will be put on a private cargo flight to South America tonight. You will be given a modest stipend, enough to live, but you will never step foot in this country again. If you ever attempt to contact anyone in Grayhaven, or if your name ever crosses my desk again, there will be no flight, and there will be no stipend."
Valentina stared at him, realizing the sheer terror of her reality. She opened her mouth to plead, but the cold, dead look in Sebastiano’s eyes cut off the words before they could form.
"Get her out of my sight," Sebastiano ordered.
May you like
As the guards dragged her away, kicking and sobbing into the darkness, Sebastiano turned his back on the basement and walked back upstairs into the warmth and light of the villa.
The rot had been excised. The house was clean.
