Chapter 29
"Power is not found in cruelty, Mason," Alessandra said, her American accent crisp and clear in the quiet dining room. "Power is found in control. True strength is protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Your grandmother believed that the weak must simply accept their fate. She was wrong. The strong must shield the weak. That is the only way a family survives."
Mason absorbed her words, nodding solemnly. The toxic ideology of Bianca and Francesca had been entirely stripped away.
"I am officially ending your probationary period," Alessandra announced, watching a flicker of relief pass over his fair face. "You will no longer scrub the kennels. You will resume your formal education alongside Caleb, and your training will shift from punishment to preparation. You will learn the business, Mason. If you remain loyal, you will have a future in this syndicate."
"Thank you, Aunt Alessandra," Mason whispered, his voice thick with genuine gratitude. "I won't betray you. I swear."
"See that you don't," Alessandra replied smoothly. "Dismissed."
As Mason hurried out of the room, Silas stepped back in, handing Alessandra a secure satellite phone.
"Boss. It's an incoming call from a highly encrypted European routing number," Silas warned, his hand resting cautiously near his sidearm.
Alessandra’s eyes narrowed into dark, calculating slits. The East Coast coalition was contained, and Chicago was secure. A European contact was an entirely new variable. She accepted the phone, pressing it to her ear.
"Alessandra Romano," a smooth, cultured voice spoke in Italian, laced with an aristocratic sneer. "I am Don Valerius, representing the Sicilian Commission. We have observed your recent... restructuring... with great interest."
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Don Valerius?" Alessandra asked, switching flawlessly to fluent Italian, her voice a low, mesmerizing hum.
May you like
"You have proven yourself a capable tactician, Alessandra," Valerius noted. "But isolating the American syndicates from the old country is a dangerous game. We require a summit in Palermo next month to discuss the future of the Romano shipping lanes. If you refuse, we will consider it an act of war."
Alessandra didn't flinch. The war for survival was never truly over; it simply shifted to a new battlefield.
