Chapter 6 - The Fortress of Moretti
The following weeks were a strange blend of domesticity and high-alert security.
The mansion,
once a cold monument to my power,
was now filled with the sounds of a child’s laughter.
Lily discovered the library,
the swimming pool,
and the vast gardens.
She treated my bodyguards like playmates,
unaware that the "uncles" she played tag with were some of the most dangerous men in the country.
Isabella,
however,
remained cautious.
She refused to stop working,
spending her days organizing the household staff and overseeing the kitchen.
"I won't be a trophy,
Alessandro,"
she told me when I tried to buy her jewelry.
"I’m here for Lily,
not for your money."
I respected her for it,
though it frustrated the part of me that wanted to give her the world.
I found myself coming home early,
skipping meetings with the capos to help Lily with her homework.
I learned about fractions,
the solar system,
and the names of every Disney princess.
It was a bizarre double life.
In the morning,
I would be in a warehouse,
deciding the fate of a shipment of illegal arms.
In the afternoon,
I would be having a tea party on the nursery floor.
My men saw the change in me.
Some looked at me with newfound respect,
seeing a leader who finally had something to lose.
Others,
the ones loyal to the old ways,
whispered in the corners.
They saw Lily as a liability.
Marcus was stoking those flames.
He sent a message—
a single yellow sweater,
identical to the one Lily wore in the park,
delivered to my front gate soaked in red paint.
It was a declaration of war.
I didn't show it to Isabella.
I didn't want her to see the darkness closing in.
I simply doubled the guards and called for a meeting of the High Commission.
I was going to present my daughter to the world.
And I was going to tell them that anyone who touched her would be erased from history.
But as the night of the gala approached,
I realized that Isabella was right.
May you like
The shadows were disappearing,
and the sun was very hot.
