Chapter 8 - Justice in the Dark
The silence that followed Vittoria’s outburst was absolute.
Salvatore slowly pushed his chair back, raising his hands in surrender. "I had nothing to do with the poison," he muttered quickly, turning on his co-conspirator. "She forced me! She said Alessandro was ruining our shipping lanes!"
Vittoria spun around, glaring at Salvatore with venomous contempt. "Coward."
Alessandro straightened up, adjusting his cuffs with slow, deliberate precision. He looked down at Vittoria not with anger, but with the cold, detached indifference of a judge delivering an irrevocable sentence.
"Marco," Alessandro said without looking back.
"Boss?"
"Take Vittoria to the estate in upstate New York. Lock her in the lower security wing. She will spend the rest of her natural life reflecting on the consequences of betrayal."
"And Salvatore?" Marco asked, his hand resting on his holster.
"Hand him over to federal authorities with the financial records attached," Alessandro said calmly. "Let the legal system handle traitors who lack imagination."
Two guards stepped forward, grabbing Vittoria by the arms. She screamed, thrashing against them as they dragged her across the marble floor, her expensive red dress trailing behind her like a streak of fresh blood.
As the heavy oak doors closed behind them, the penthouse returned to a heavy, breathless stillness.
The remaining capos looked up at Alessandro, waiting for their own executioner's verdict.
May you like
"The meeting is adjourned," Alessandro said quietly. "Return to your posts. If anyone forgets whose table you sit at, remember tonight."
They scrambled out of the room like rats fleeing a sinking ship, leaving only Alessandro and me standing beneath the brilliant crystal chandelier.
