Chapter 8 - The Mafia Boss Who Burned His Own Empire
Dante had spent his life protecting the Bell name.
That night, he decided to destroy it.
He called every captain.
Every associate.
Every lawyer.
Every accountant.
He ordered them into the Bell warehouse.
Then he put the ledger on the table.
"No more."
One captain laughed.
"You can't dismantle this."
"I can."
"This is generations of work."
"Then let it end with my generation."
Silence.
Dante opened the ledger.
"You all think this is a business."
He held up the cassette.
"It's not."
Gabriel stood across the warehouse.
"You always were sentimental."
"No."
Dante looked at him.
"Just tired."
The recording played.
Their father's voice filled the warehouse.
Then Gabriel's.
Then Silas's.
Details emerged.
Bribes.
Kidnappings.
Threats.
Murder.
The trafficking of debts.
Everything.
The men in the room began looking at one another.
Some stepped back.
Some reached for weapons.
Dante raised his gun.
"Anyone who stays with Gabriel leaves here as his enemy."
One by one, men lowered their weapons.
Gabriel stared.
"You think this makes you a hero?"
"No."
Dante looked at him.
"It makes me your brother."
Gabriel laughed.
"You never were."
Then gunfire erupted.
The warehouse became chaos.
Mara was hiding behind a steel column with Evelyn when Silas appeared.
He grabbed Mara.
She struggled.
"Let her go."
Dante's voice echoed across the warehouse.
Silas dragged Mara backward.
"Drop the gun."
Dante lowered it.
Silas smiled.
"This is the part where the great Dante Bell discovers he isn't in control."
Mara looked at Dante.
He looked back.
His expression was calm.
Almost strangely calm.
Silas pressed the gun against Mara's head.
"You have three seconds."
Dante said nothing.
Two.
One.
Mara moved.
She drove her elbow backward.
Silas staggered.
Dante fired.
Silas dropped.
Gabriel ran.
Nico chased him.
Mara collapsed against Dante.
He held her.
Neither spoke.
Then Dante whispered.
"I thought I was going to lose you."
Mara looked up.
"You didn't."
His forehead rested against hers.
"For the first time in my life," he said, "I don't know what happens next."
Mara gave him a small smile.
"Maybe that's the point."
Outside, sirens began to fill the night.
Dante looked toward the warehouse doors.
"The empire is finished."
Mara looked at him.
"No."
She squeezed his hand.
"Your father's empire is finished."
Dante met her eyes.
May you like
"And mine?"
"That's up to you."
