Chapter 11 - The Viper’s Banquet
The River North safehouse was not a dingy basement; it was a private penthouse occupying the top floor of a high-rise disguised as a private investment firm. From the wrap-around floor-to-ceiling windows, the Chicago skyline glittered like a jagged sea of black glass and neon.The boardroom table was made of solid ebony, surrounded by ten captains whose collective net worth—and body count—ran the underworld of three states.When Luca walked in, every man stood up immediately. But when I stepped into the room behind him, wearing a tailored charcoal dress with the Moretti emerald catching the recessed halogen lights, several eyebrows raised, and a collective tension gripped the room."Sit," Luca said coldly.The chairs scraped back against the marble floor as the men took their seats. Luca remained standing at the head of the table. He pulled out the leather armchair directly to his right—a seat traditionally reserved for the Underboss—and gestured for me to sit.I held my head high, ignoring the prickle of adrenaline surging through my veins, and took the seat. I placed my hands flat against the dark wood. I refused to let them see me tremble. If Luca was going to burn his world down to keep me safe, I would not be the weak link in his armor."Some of you," Luca began, his dark eyes scanning each face like a predator assessing wounded prey, "are wondering why the Bellandi alliance is dead. Some of you have taken private phone calls from Gianna’s uncle, Silvio, wondering if there is profit to be made in a mutiny."A captain named Cassio, an older man with silver hair and scars across his knuckles, cleared his throat. "Don Luca... with respect. Gianna Bellandi guaranteed us the ports in Detroit and the trucking lines through Indiana. Cutting ties with them overnight cuts our revenue by thirty percent. And for what? For an outsider?"Cassio's eyes flicked to me, filled with condescension.Before Luca could move, I leaned forward. The sheer audacity of my movement drew every eye straight to me."Cassio, was it?" I asked, my voice calm, smooth, and deliberately steady.Cassio frowned, his lips curling in annoyance. "Young lady, this is family business.""It is family business," I countered, pulling a thin black leather folder from beneath my arm—the very ledger I had deciphered two nights ago in Luca’s private study. "And according to the shipping manifests from the Bellandi logistics hub in Gary, Indiana, your 'thirty percent profit' was already being siphoned. Gianna’s father was skimming four points off every shipment of raw materials for the past fourteen months."I slid the printed banking summaries across the polished ebony table, stopping them directly in front of Cassio."Silvio Bellandi wasn't sharing power with the Moretti family," I continued, feeling the heavy warmth of Luca’s gaze burning into the side of my face. "He was bankrupting you from within. He financed the hit on the Lake Forest compound using your own skimmed percentages. If Luca hadn't ended the alliance this morning, Silvio would have staged a coup by next Friday, and every man at this table would have been replaced by a Bellandi soldier."Cassio stared at the papers, his weathered hands trembling as he skimmed the routing numbers and accounts. The rest of the captains leaned in, their murmurs growing loud and turbulent."Where did you get this?" Cassio whispered, looking up at me in disbelief."She found it," Luca stated, stepping closer and resting one hand on the back of my chair, effectively crowning me before his empire. "Because while you old men were busy counting your kickbacks and trusting a smiling viper in a designer dress, Clara was reading between the lines."Luca leaned down, his voice dropping into a low, terrifying growl that resonated through the room."Now... does anyone else have a question about why she sits at this table?"No one spoke. Not a single breath was drawn.***
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