Chapter 6
Arthur refused to speak again without protection.
By sunrise, federal agents had taken him into custody along with several of Vincent’s men.
Vincent escaped during the confusion.
That bothered Dante less than Arthur’s final words.
The truth about why Dante’s father died.
Serena found Dante sitting alone in the church after everyone left.
“You’re angry.”
He looked at her.
“You followed me.”
“Yes.”
“I told you not to.”
“Yes.”
“You could have been killed.”
“Yes.”
Dante stared.
Serena sat beside him.
“You’re not going to win this argument.”
He almost laughed despite himself.
“You’ve changed.”
“No.”
She looked toward the altar.
“I stopped pretending.”
That distinction mattered.
Dante’s anger faded.
“Arthur knew something about my father.”
“We’ll find it.”
“How?”
“Arthur likes insurance.”
Serena looked at him.
“People who collect secrets never keep only one copy.”
Dante studied her.
“You’re frighteningly good at this.”
“I’m Vincent Romano’s daughter.”
Pain entered her voice.
“For better or worse.”
Dante touched her hand.
“You’re Serena.”
She looked at him.
“That’s enough.”
Together, they began searching Arthur’s properties.
It took two days.
The breakthrough came from Patricia.
Arthur maintained a private office above an old legal library downtown.
Inside they discovered another safe.
Patricia supplied one half of the combination.
Marco found the other in Arthur’s financial records.
Inside was a recording.
Dante listened.
His father’s voice filled the room.
Then Vincent’s.
Then Arthur’s.
The recording was thirteen years old.
They were arguing about territory.
But gradually the truth emerged.
Dante’s father had wanted to leave the criminal world.
He planned to legitimize the Cavali businesses.
Vincent opposed it.
Arthur opposed it even more.
A legitimate Cavali organization would no longer need Arthur’s secret network.
Then came the final conversation.
Arthur’s voice:
“If Dante inherits now, he’ll follow his father.”
Vincent answered:
“Then make sure his father doesn’t have time to teach him.”
Dante stopped the recording.
Serena stared at him.
“Dante.”
He walked toward the window.
His father’s heart attack had been murder.
Arthur had arranged it.
Vincent had approved it.
Everything Dante built afterward had grown from a lie.
Serena approached.
He whispered, “I became exactly what they wanted.”
“No.”
“I inherited the organization because they killed him.”
“You were twenty.”
“I expanded it.”
“Because you thought that was your responsibility.”
Dante turned.
“How many people have suffered because I protected a legacy my father wanted to end?”
Serena had no easy answer.
That was why he trusted her.
She didn’t offer comforting lies.
Instead, she said, “Then finish what he started.”
Dante stared at her.
“What?”
“Change it.”
“You think men simply walk away from this life?”
“No.”
Serena stepped closer.
“I think powerful men convince themselves they can’t change because change costs more than continuing.”
Her words struck him.
“What would changing cost?”
“Everything you built.”
“And what would I have afterward?”
Serena took his hand.
“Maybe something worth keeping.”
For several seconds Dante couldn’t speak.
Then Marco entered.
“We found Vincent.”
Dante’s expression changed.
“Where?”
“The Romano estate.”
“Why hasn’t he run?”
Marco looked uneasy.
“Because he has Patricia.”
Serena went pale.
“What?”
“Vincent’s men grabbed her an hour ago.”
Serena reached for her phone.
A message arrived.
A photograph.
Patricia tied to a chair in Vincent’s study.
Beneath it:
COME HOME, SERENA. ALONE.
Dante read the message.
“No.”
Serena looked at him.
“He’ll kill her.”
“He’ll kill you.”
“He wants me.”
“He wants leverage.”
“She’s my mother.”
Dante knew that look.
It was the same determination he had overheard in the sunroom.
Serena would go regardless.
So he changed tactics.
“You’re not going alone.”
“The message says—”
“I can read.”
“Dante.”
“We do this together.”
She stared.
“You trust me?”
“With my life.”
Serena’s eyes filled.
“That’s what I spent three years trying to prevent.”
“And now?”
She squeezed his hand.
“Now I’m terrified.”
“Good.”
She frowned.
“Good?”
“Trust should be terrifying.”
Dante leaned closer.
“But we do it anyway.”
That night they prepared to enter the Romano estate.
Not as a mafia boss rescuing his frightened wife.
Not as a Romano daughter betraying her father.
As partners.
But inside the estate, Vincent was already preparing something neither expected.
On his desk sat two chairs.
One for Serena.
One for Dante.
And beside them was a document transferring control of the entire Romano organization.
Vincent had finally accepted that his daughter had chosen Dante.
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Now he intended to force Dante to choose between saving Serena’s mother—
and becoming the very monster Serena had spent three years trying to protect him from.
