Chapter 6 - THE BETRAYAL WITHINTitle: The Serpent in the House: Discovering Which Capo Sold Out the Dantis Family
The morning sun cut sharp, golden slashes across the dark hardwood floors of Aleandro’s study. The smell of fresh espresso mingled with the lingering, bitter scent of gunpowder from the previous night's attack.
Daisy sat in a deep leather armchair by the window, a steaming mug of tea in one hand while Barnaby rested his heavy chin contentedly across her lap. Across the room, standing beside a large mahogany desk strewn with encrypted tactical reports, Aleandro interrogated the surviving Moretti operative tied securely to a steel chair.
The captive was battered, bleeding from the lip, and shaking uncontrollably.
"I'll ask you once more," Aleandro’s voice was barely a whisper, yet it carried the chilling weight of an executioner. "How did your strike team bypass the outer motion grid on the north wall? That system was installed by Israeli military contractors. It cannot be hacked from the outside."
"I... I swear on my mother's grave, I don't know!" the captive sobbed, thrashing against his bonds. "We didn't hack shit! Someone on the inside disabled the sensors from the master terminal in the security wing! They gave us the exact security rotation code for the seven-o'clock shift!"
Aleandro’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. He slowly straightened up, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Salvatore."
"Boss," Salvatore stepped forward from the shadows near the door, his expression grim.
"Pull the digital access logs from the master terminal between six and seven PM last night," Aleandro ordered coldly. "Find out whose badge was used to drop the shields."
Fifteen tense minutes later, Salvatore returned, a heavy tablet in his hand. He didn't look at Aleandro immediately; instead, his eyes flicked uncomfortably toward the corner of the room where Daisy sat petting Barnaby.
"Speak, Salvatore," Aleandro commanded.
"It wasn't an oversight, Boss," Salvatore said, his voice tight with suppressed fury. "The biometric login used to drop the north sector shields belonged to... Vincente’s former handler. Capo Giovanni Rossi."
The room plunged into an icy, suffocating silence.
Giovanni Rossi had been part of the Dantis family for over thirty years. He had held Aleandro when he was a boy; he had stood beside Aleandro’s father during the bloody turf wars of the nineties.
Aleandro didn't flinch. His face turned into a mask of cold, terrifying stone. "Where is Rossi now?"
"He's currently downstairs in the armory, overseeing the restocking of the tactical gear," Salvatore replied stiffly. "He claimed he had nothing to do with it when I questioned him on the intercom, but he locked himself inside the vault room."
"Bring him to me," Aleandro said softly. "Alive. I want to look him in the eye before I feed him to the river."
Daisy watched the exchange, a cold shiver running down her spine. This wasn't a movie anymore. This was a brutal, unforgiving world of betrayal and swift execution. She gently set her tea mug down, sliding her feet out from under Barnaby’s heavy head.
"Aleandro," Daisy said softly, breaking the silence.
Aleandro turned sharply, his expression softening just a fraction as he looked at her. "Stay here, Daisy. This isn't something you need to witness."
"I'm not a child hiding in a nursery," Daisy replied, standing up and smoothing down her casual sweater—one Salvatore had retrieved from her packed belongings. "If there is a traitor in this house, he didn't just put your life at risk. He put my dogs at risk. And nobody threatens my dogs."
Aleandro stared at her for a long moment, then gave a slow, respectful nod. "Alright. But stay behind me."
Ten minutes later, the heavy steel reinforced door of the downstairs armory stood slightly ajar. Salvatore and four armed capos flanked Aleandro as he strode down the concrete corridor, with Daisy and Barnaby walking right behind them.
"Giovanni," Aleandro’s voice echoed off the concrete walls as he pushed the heavy door open. "Step out where I can see you."
Inside the armory, standing behind a massive workbench cluttered with ammunition boxes and assault rifles, was an elderly man with silver hair and a tailored charcoal suit. It was Giovanni Rossi. In his trembling right hand, he held a heavy nickel-plated revolver aimed directly at Aleandro’s chest.
"I'm sorry, Aleandro," Giovanni’s voice shook, tears welling in his tired old eyes. "The Moretti syndicate... they have my granddaughter in Brooklyn. They said if I didn't give them the gate codes, they'd send her back to me in pieces."
Aleandro stopped ten paces away. His hand hovered inches from his holster. "You've known me since I was six years old, Giovanni. If your family was in trouble, all you had to do was ask. The Dantis family protects its own."
"Not anymore," Giovanni sobbed, tightening his grip on the revolver. "You changed, Aleandro. Ever since that stray dog handler walked through the gates, you've gone soft! You're letting outsiders into the inner circle! You're risking everything for a woman who doesn't even know what blood this empire was built on!"
Giovanni’s finger twitched on the trigger.
Before Aleandro could draw his weapon, a massive black blur lunged past him with a earth-shattering roar.
Barnaby.
The cane corso cleared ten feet of concrete in a single, terrifying bound. He didn't bark; he hit Giovanni like a runaway freight train, slamming the elderly capo backward against the metal workbench. The heavy revolver discharged harmlessly into the concrete ceiling, showering sparks across the room.
Giovanni screamed as Barnaby stood over him, pinning his chest with two massive paws, baring razor-sharp white fangs inches from the traitor's throat.
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Aleandro stepped forward, his face an impassive mask of absolute authority. He looked down at the trembling capo, then sideways at Daisy, who stood calmly beside him with her hands tucked quietly into her pockets.
"You're right about one thing, Giovanni," Aleandro said softly, his voice echoing in the cold armory. "I am changing. And anyone who threatens what is mine... doesn't survive to see the new empire."
