Chapter 7 - A DANGEROUS ALLIANCE: THE RIVAL DON TRIES TO USE KATARINA'S PAST TO BREAK SERVINO'S REIGN!
The death of Leo Marcone’s men at the docks was a declaration of total war.
While Chase’s body was quietly disposed of in a local furnace, the patriarch of the Marcone family—old Don Silvio Marcone—was furious. He had lost his son, his men, and his pride in a single night.
Silvio sat in his private study in his fortress-like estate in Cherry Hill, staring at a folder of documents his private investigators had compiled.
"So, the girl has a mother," Silvio murmured, his voice raspy from decades of smoking. "An elderly woman living in a nursing home in North Jersey. A woman whose medical bills are paid entirely by Vittorio Servino’s private charity fund."
Leo’s younger brother, Dominic Marcone, stood by the window, his fists clenched. "We should grab the mother, Father. Use her to force the girl to poison Servino. She has access to his food, his drinks, his medication. It would be easy."
"Vittorio is too smart for that, Dominic," Silvio warned. "He has his own guards at that nursing home. But the girl... the girl is fragile. If we reveal to her the truth about how her father died, she will destroy Vittorio herself."
Dominic looked confused. "What truth?"
Silvio smiled, revealing a row of yellowed teeth. "Twenty years ago, her father was a union leader at the docks. He refused to cooperate with our smuggling operations. It was Vittorio’s father, old Roberto Servino, who ordered his execution. Vittorio was the one who pulled the trigger. It was his initiation into the family."
Dominic gasped. "Are you sure?"
"I have the police reports, the ballistics, and the original wiretaps," Silvio said, tapping the folder. "Vittorio thinks he is protecting his little assistant out of guilt. If she finds out the man she is sleeping with is the man who murdered her father, she will tear his heart out for us."
Meanwhile, at the Servino estate, Katarina was beginning to heal. Her bruises were fading to a light yellow, and her ankle was strong enough to support her weight without pain.
She spent her afternoons in the estate library, reading old leather-bound books and drinking tea. Vittorio joined her whenever his schedule allowed, sitting opposite her in a quiet companionability that felt more intimate than any conversation they had ever had.
"You look beautiful today, Katarina," Vittorio said one afternoon, looking up from his laptop.
She blushed, looking down at her book. "Thank you, Mr. Servino."
"I think we have passed the point of 'Mr. Servino,' don't you?" he murmured, a rare, genuine waltz of amusement in his eyes. "Call me Vittorio."
"Vittorio," she repeated. It felt incredibly natural on her tongue, like a secret she had been keeping for a lifetime.
Before she could say more, Enzo entered the library, his face tight with concern. He handed Vittorio a small, unmarked envelope.
May you like
"This was delivered to the front gate, Don Vittorio," Enzo said. "It has Miss Aiello’s name on it."
Vittorio opened the envelope. Inside was a single USB drive and a handwritten note: The truth about your father is on this drive, Katarina. Ask your savior who pulled the trigger.
