Chapter 9
The quiet, golden warmth of the guest suite felt like a genuine sanctuary. Fiona stared at the powerful Mafia boss, completely overwhelmed by the sudden, life-altering offer. She had expected to be fired, or perhaps quietly paid off for her discretion. She hadn't expected the most terrifying man in the city to entrust her with the care of his new ward and elevate her standing within his empire.
"Are you certain, Mr. Winslow?" Fiona asked, her voice a fragile whisper. "I am just a housemaid."
"Does a uniform define the strength of a person's character, or do their actions in the dark define them?" Dante asked smoothly, stepping slightly closer.
Fiona smiled, a beautiful, radiant expression that lit up her softly heart-shaped face. "I would be honored to care for her, sir."
"Will you rest now, Fiona?" Dante asked, gesturing toward the comfortable armchair near the bed.
"I will, thank you," she nodded gratefully.
Dante turned and walked quietly out of the suite, the heavy oak doors closing solidly behind him. The protective, paternal warmth he had shown in the bedroom vanished entirely the moment he stepped back into the bright, illuminated corridors of his empire. The terrifying, cold-blooded executioner re-emerged, his jaw locked in stone.
He descended the grand marble staircase, his polished leather shoes striking the steps with a heavy, rhythmic finality. He bypassed the empty dining hall, heading directly for the lower levels of the mansion.
The air in the basement was cool and sterile, lit by harsh industrial bulbs that offered no soft elegant warmth. Two of his most ruthless, broad-shouldered enforcers stood at attention outside a heavy steel door.
"Is she secured inside?" Dante asked, his deep voice vibrating in the cold corridor.
"Yes, Boss. She hasn't stopped demanding to speak to you," the lead guard replied, unlocking the heavy deadbolt.
Dante pushed the door open.
Aurelia was sitting on a cold metal folding chair in the center of the barren room. Her sculpted emerald satin gown was torn at the hem, and her pristine makeup was completely ruined by tracks of panicked tears. When she saw Dante step into the room, she scrambled backward, the chair scraping loudly against the concrete floor.
"Dante, please!" Aurelia shrieked, her American accent pitching into a hysterical wail. "You have to listen to me! I can explain everything!"
"Does a mother who abandons her child possess any words worth hearing?" Dante inquired, crossing his arms over his chest.
"My father ordered it!" Aurelia sobbed, throwing her own family under the bus in a desperate bid for survival. "He wanted to absorb your territories! He knew you would never agree to a merger if I came with a child from a rival family! He told me to hide her until the wedding was finalized!"
"Did your father also order you to starve her in a locked room, or was that simply a manifestation of your own pathetic cruelty?" Dante asked, his perceptive eyes narrowing into dark, lethal slits.
Aurelia opened her mouth, her chest heaving, but she could not formulate a lie to defend her actions. She buried her face in her hands, weeping uncontrollably.
"Are you prepared to sign a full confession implicating your father in the conspiracy to defraud this syndicate?" Dante asked, his tone dropping into a register of pure, concentrated ice.
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"If I do, will you let me live?" Aurelia begged, looking up with wide, terrified eyes.
"Will your survival not depend entirely on how useful your confession proves to be when I dismantle your father's empire tomorrow morning?" Dante replied, turning his back on her before she could answer.
