The apartment was tiny a studio with a kitchenette and a bathroom. The bed was against the far wall, and in it, tangled in sheets, were Sergio and Maria.
Sergio's hand went for the gun on the nightstand.
"Don't," Dante's voice was ice. His own gun was already aimed at his cousin's head. "You'll be dead before you touch it."
Sergio froze, his face going white. Maria screamed, clutching the sheets to her chest.
"Dante," Sergio's voice shook. "Cousin, please, I can explain"
"Shut up." Dante moved closer, his gun never wavering. "Marcus, get the girl out of here. She doesn't need to see this."
"No!" Maria sobbed as Marcus pulled her from the bed, wrapping a blanket around her. "Sergio! What's happening? Who are these people?"
"It's okay, baby," Sergio lied, his eyes never leaving Dante's gun. "It's just a misunderstanding. I'll fix it."
"You can't fix betrayal," I said, speaking for the first time.
Sergio's eyes cut to me, widening in recognition. "The auction girl. Isabella. Please, you have to understand"
"I understand perfectly. You sold out your own family for money and power. You gave the Volkovs access to Dante's home. To me." I moved to stand beside Dante. "You tried to have me kidnapped. Used as bait. Do you know what they would have done to me?"
"I didn't they weren't supposed to hurt you"
"They were absolutely going to hurt me," I interrupted. "That's what the Volkovs do. But you didn't care, did you? As long as you got what you wanted."
Marcus had removed Maria from the apartment. It was just us now Dante, me, Sergio, and the two soldiers blocking the door.
"Get up," Dante ordered. "Slowly. Hands where I can see them."
Sergio complied, naked and trembling, pathetic in his fear. This was the man who'd thought he could take Dante's empire? This coward?
"Put on pants," Dante added with disgust. "I'm going to kill you, but I won't do it while you're naked. You'll die with some dignity at least."
Sergio scrambled into jeans, his hands shaking so badly he could barely button them. "Dante, please. I'm family. Your cousin. We grew up together"
"Which makes your betrayal worse, not better." Dante's voice was emotionless. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out? That I wouldn't kill you for this?"
"I thought the Volkovs said"
"The Volkovs used you. Like they use everyone. And now you're useless to them and dead to me." Dante gestured with his gun. "Hands behind your back."
One of the soldiers zip-tied Sergio's wrists while the other covered him. Sergio was crying now, begging, promising anything if Dante would just spare his life.
"Where are we taking him?" I asked.
"The warehouse. Neutral ground.
Somewhere the family can't claim we executed him on sacred territory." Dante's jaw was tight. "This needs to be done properly. Witnesses. Proof of betrayal. Then justice."
We moved Sergio down the fire escape and into a waiting van. He tried to run once, got three steps before Marcus tackled him. After that, they tied his ankles too.
The drive to the warehouse took twenty minutes. Sergio alternated between begging and threatening, promising revenge, swearing the Volkovs would destroy Dante, claiming family would avenge him.
Nobody responded. What was there to say?
The warehouse was one of Dante's properties officially an import/export business, unofficially a place where problems were solved permanently. We pulled into the loading bay, and more of Dante's men were waiting.
"Set up the chair," Dante ordered. "And send word to the family. Tell them Sergio Moretti has been accused of betrayal and the evidence will be presented. Anyone who wants to witness can attend."
"You're going to give him a trial?" I asked quietly as men dragged Sergio inside.
"Not a trial. An execution with witnesses. If I just kill him quietly, the family will whisper that I murdered him out of paranoia or spite. This way, they see the proof. They understand why. And they learn what happens to traitors." He took my hand. "Last chance to wait in the car, Isabella. What comes next won't be pleasant."
"I'm staying."
"Then stay close to me. And if you need to leave at any point, no shame in that."
Inside, the warehouse had been transformed into something like a courtroom from hell. A chair in the center for Sergio. Rows of seats facing it. Bright lights overhead. And along the walls, Dante's most trusted men with guns.
Within an hour, members of the Moretti family began arriving. Uncles, aunts, cousins all summoned to witness justice or massacre, depending on their perspective.
They filed in silently, staring at me with a mixture of curiosity and disgust. Dante's auction purchase. His whore. The outsider who'd somehow become his queen.
Let them stare. I was done caring what people thought.
When everyone was assembled, Dante stood in front of Sergio's chair and addressed the room in Italian. I'd been learning the language, but he spoke too quickly for me to catch everything. The gist was clear though: Sergio stands accused of betrayal. Here is the evidence. Here is the consequence.
He presented the Russian's confession video recorded before he died. Sergio's phone records showing communication with known Volkov associates. Bank statements showing large cash deposits. The panic room codes that only family had access to.
The evidence was damning. Undeniable. Even Sergio's own parents an aunt and uncle I'd never met looked convinced of his guilt.
"Does anyone dispute this evidence?" Dante asked in English, probably for my benefit.
Silence.
"Does anyone speak in his defense?"
More silence. Even his parents said nothing.
"Then by the laws of our family, by the code we live by, Sergio Moretti is guilty of betrayal. The sentence is death." Dante pulled his gun. "Does the accused have any final words?"
"Fuck you," Sergio spat. "Fuck all of you. I hope the Volkovs kill every single one of"
The gunshot cut him off.
Dante had shot him in the head quick, efficient, merciful despite everything. Sergio's body slumped in the chair, blood pooling beneath him.
The room was utterly silent.
"Let this be a lesson," Dante said, his voice carrying to every corner. "Loyalty is everything. Betray it, and this is the result. Family or not, enemy or not the consequence is the same."
He turned and walked toward me, his grey eyes empty, the monster fully present. But when he reached me, when his hand found mine, some of the emptiness faded.
"Let's go home," he said quietly.
We left the warehouse together, leaving others to clean up the mess. In the car, Dante was silent, staring out the window at the passing city.
"Are you okay?" I finally asked.
"I just killed my cousin. Am I supposed to be okay?"
"You did what was necessary."
"Doesn't make it easier. He was family once. Before the betrayal, before the lies we were children together. He was at my eighth birthday party. I taught him to ride a bike." Dante's voice was hollow. "And I just put a bullet in his brain."
I took his hand. "He chose his path. You didn't force him to betray you."
"No. But I made him desperate enough to try. My empire, my power, my refusal to share control that drove him to it. So the blood is partly on my hands."
"Don't do that. Don't take responsibility for his choices."
"Someone has to." He finally looked at me, and the pain in his eyes was terrible to witness. "How many more will I have to kill, Isabella? How many more friends, family members, people I once cared about? Where does it end?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But as long as you're fighting, I'm beside you. Every kill. Every hard choice. Every consequence. We face it together."
"Even when you should run from me?"
"Especially then." I leaned against his shoulder. "You're stuck with me, Dante Moretti. For better or worse."
"This is definitely worse."
"Maybe. But we're still here. Still breathing. Still together." I kissed his jaw. "That's something."
By the time we reached the mansion, dawn was breaking. Rosa had coffee ready, and she didn't ask about the blood on Dante's clothes or the hollowness in his eyes.
We showered together, washing away Sergio's blood, and climbed into bed even though the sun was rising.
"I love you," Dante whispered against my hair. "More than I've ever loved anything. And that terrifies me."
"I love you too. And I'm terrified too." I held him tighter. "But we'll be okay. We have to be."
We fell asleep tangled together, two broken people trying to build something whole from the shattered pieces of our lives.
And tomorrow, the war with the Volkovs would continue.
But tonight, we had each other.
That would have to be enough.