Chapter 52
Dante stepped out onto the balcony, letting the freezing winds of the Mediterranean Sea hit his face. The bloody memories he had tried so hard to bury were clawing their way back to the surface. Maya was cooking in the kitchen, and little Hope’s giggles echoed peacefully. He could not let their world be stained with blood once more. He returned to the study. "Which organization is backing him?" "The Ember Consortium," Matteo answered, pulling out a classified dossier. "It’s not a traditional mafia syndicate. They are a network of extremists, rogue intelligence agents, corrupt politicians, and shadow oligarchs. They specialize in stealth weaponry and government manipulation. Trillions of dollars flow through the legitimate shipping lines of Russo Logistics that I manage. They want to use our clean ports to transport a highly volatile biological weapon codenamed 'Black Arrow'." "And Antoine is their attack dog," Dante concluded, his eyes sharp as a razor. "He wants to use Sophia's life to force me to open the East Coast ports." "Exactly," Matteo nodded. "If we refuse, they won't just target Sophia. They will blow up Maya's bakeries, the charities, and destroy every legitimate foundation you’ve worked so hard to build." Dante fell silent. He had once been a king of the underworld, ruthless and uncompromising. He had sworn never to walk that path again. But with the lives of the people he loved under threat, the monster inside him was begging to be unchained. "Matteo," Dante said slowly, each word dropping like an armor-piercing shell. "Prep the jet. We leave for Florence tonight. Tell Maya I have an urgent business trip to resolve a corporate crisis." "What are you going to do, Boss?" "I'm done playing defense," Dante replied, his eyes darkening into an abyss. "I am going to burn their entire network to the ground before they even realize I’ve returned."
