Chapter 4 - The Table Is Set(Word Count: ~1,800 words)
Alina stared at me, her lower lip trembling as tears spilled over her eyelashes, tracing wet paths down her pale cheeks.
“Dante... you don't understand,” she whimpered, trying to pull her hand away from mine. “You don't have to do this out of obligation. I know why we got married. I know you only took me to save my father's business. You don't have to feel guilty about letting me go.”
“I didn't destroy the papers out of guilt, Alina,” I said, closing the distance between us until our foreheads almost touched. “I destroyed them because I am hopelessly, irreversibly in love with you.”
She stopped breathing. The room fell into an absolute, breathless silence.
“You... you love me?” she whispered, as if the words were part of a dream she was afraid to wake up from.
“From the moment you walked into this house and replaced my mother’s lilies with white roses,” I admitted, my thumb gently wiping a tear from her cheek. “I thought you feared me. I thought every smile you gave me was a performance to stay alive. I hated myself for keeping you in my violent world.”
Alina let out a small, heartbreaking sob and threw her arms around my neck, burying her face into the crook of my collarbone. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her flush against my chest, feeling the frantic beat of her heart steadying against mine.
“I was never afraid of you, Dante,” she sobbed into my shoulder. “I was afraid of losing you. I was afraid of them hurting you.”
“I know,” I whispered into her hair, holding her tight. “I heard you talking to your mother tonight.”
Alina stiffened instantly in my arms. Her body went rigid as pure terror flooded her veins. She pulled back slightly, looking at me with wide, panicked eyes.
“You... you heard?” she stammered, her voice rising in alarm. “Dante, no! You can't let Lorenzo know! He has men watching my brother’s dorm! He has spies in your security detail! If he suspects you know about Julian—”
“Shh,” I placed my thumb over her lips, cutting off her panic. “Listen to me carefully, Alina. Lorenzo thinks I am signing those divorce papers today. He thinks you will be stripped of the Moretti title by nightfall. He believes his plan is moving forward perfectly.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked, her voice shaking.
“I am going to let him step right into the trap he’s been building for three years,” I replied, my eyes hardening into polished flint. “Tomorrow at noon, the entire Moretti council gathers at the Grand River Hotel. Lorenzo believes I am stepping down to handle a personal crisis. Instead, he is going to answer for every threat he made against you.”
Alina reached up, her small hands framing my face, her hazel eyes searching mine with fierce intensity. “He’s dangerous, Dante. Julian’s faction was larger than you think. What if he turns the council against you?”
I gave her a slow, dark smile—the smile that made mob bosses across the country sweat through their tailored suits.
“They call me the ruler of Chicago for a reason, my love,” I murmured, kissing her forehead softly. “Lorenzo forgot who built this family. Tomorrow, I remind him.”
By 10:00 AM the following morning, the Grand River Hotel was locked down under heavy security. Blacked-out SUVs filled the subterranean parking garage. Armed guards in dark suits stood at every elevator, every corridor, and every fire escape.
In the penthouse suite overlooking the river, thirty of the most powerful syndicate bosses, captains, and legal representatives in the Midwest sat around a long, polished oval table.
At the head of the table sat Lorenzo Moretti. He was wearing a grey Italian suit, casually sipping an espresso, whispering to the captain sitting beside him. He looked like a man who believed he was minutes away from inheriting a kingdom.
When the heavy double doors at the end of the room swung open, every man in the room stood up out of instinct.
I walked into the room. But I didn't come alone.
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Dressed in a stunning, custom-fitted emerald green dress, with her dark hair swept up in an elegant style and diamonds glittering at her throat, Alina walked beside me, her arm resting securely inside the crook of my elbow.
Lorenzo’s espresso cup froze inches from his lips. His eyes widened in utter disbelief as he stared at my wife.
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