Chapter 20 - The Reign of the Sovereign Empire
Sofia never got the chance to pull the trigger.
A single bullet tore through the back of her skull, firing straight through the nursery window from the oak tree three hundred yards away. Sofia dropped to the floor instantly, lifeless.
I turned around, stunned, looking toward the window, then back at Dante. Slowly, Dante lowered his encrypted tactical radio from his belt. He hadn't been trying to negotiate with Sofia; he had been holding her attention just long enough for his long-range sniper—positioned outside—to acquire a clear shot through the glass.
Silence settled over the room, broken only by the soft whimpers of our children. Dante walked past Sofia’s body without giving her a second glance, stepping over to the crib. He gently lifted Julian and Valentina into his arms, holding them close against his chest before turning to look at me.
The silence between us stretched for what felt like an eternity. I waited for the fury, the judgment, the ultimate rejection. I had confessed to murder, treason, and absolute manipulation.
Instead, Dante walked over to me, placed our daughter in my arms, and looked down at me with an expression I had never seen on his face before. It wasn't anger. It wasn't hatred. It was absolute, dark, terrifying reverence.
"You executed Carlo?" he asked in a low, husky whisper.
"Yes," I answered truthfully, holding his gaze.
"You built an empire larger than my father’s in less than twelve months?"
"Yes."
A slow, breathtaking smile spread across Dante’s face—a smile that made my blood run hot. He leaned down, placing his hand behind my neck, and pulled me into a kiss so intense, so fierce, it consumed every lingering fear in my chest.
"I didn't marry a helpless bird," Dante murmured against my lips, his eyes burning with an unholy fire. "I married the devil herself. Do you know how long I waited for you to stop hiding behind that innocent smile and show me who you really were?"
My breath hitched. "You... you knew?"
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Dante laughed softly, kissing my forehead before taking my hand in his. "I knew the moment you left that card on my desk five years ago, Lena. A woman who brings dinner to a mafia office during a war isn't naive—she's calculating her next move. I let you think you were tricking me because watching you conquer the world was the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen."
He squeezed my hand tightly as we looked out over the burning estate together. The old Moretti empire was dead. The quiet domestic life was gone. But standing side by side in the wreckage of our past, the Sovereign King and Queen looked toward a future where no one would ever dare challenge our crown again.
