Chapter 5 - The Serpent’s Kiss
The council chamber was a room I had never seen,
located deep beneath the villa’s foundations.
It was lined with ancient stone,
and the smell of old tobacco and gunpowder hung in the air.
The twelve bosses were seated around a circular table,
their faces grim and expectant.
Alessandro led me to a seat at his right hand,
while Emma sat on my lap,
clutching the rabbit.
"The child is a Vancini,"
Alessandro announced,
his voice booming in the confined space.
"I have verified the mark,"
"and the DNA tests will be completed by dawn."
Don Ricci,
the oldest member,
leaned forward.
"Even if she is blood,"
"she is the daughter of a housekeeper."
"She has no training,"
"no understanding of our ways."
Alessandro leaned over the table,
his eyes flashing like flint.
"She is the blood of my brother,"
"and she will be raised as my ward."
"Any insult to her,"
"is an insult to the Moretti name."
Suddenly,
the heavy iron doors burst open.
Vivian walked in,
her eyes red-rimmed and crazed.
She wasn't alone.
She was flanked by her father,
Don Romano,
who controlled the shipping ports in the south.
"This is a farce!"
Romano shouted,
slamming his fist on the table.
"My daughter was promised this throne!"
"You would cast her aside for a servant’s bastard?"
Emma whimpered,
hiding her face in my shoulder.
I felt a surge of maternal rage,
hotter than any fear.
"Don't you dare speak of her that way,"
I said,
my voice steady and cold.
The room went silent.
A housekeeper had just spoken back to a Don.
Alessandro smiled,
a slow,
dangerous grin.
"You heard the lady,"
he said.
"And since you have brought your grievances here,"
"let us settle the matter of the rabbit."
He pulled the toy from Emma's hand,
and ripped the stitching of the ear.
Inside,
hidden in the stuffing,
was a small,
silver microchip.
The faces of the men at the table turned ashen.
"This chip,"
Alessandro said,
"contains the ledger of every bribe paid to the Romanos,"
May you like
"by the very people who killed my brother."
***
