Chapter 10
Three older capos knew about the hidden-room punishment.
Not the collar.
Enough.
One admitted Victoria told him Isabella was being kept away from meetings because I had become “too sentimental” after Elena’s death.
“What did you think?”
“That maybe you agreed.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
“Why?”
He looked ashamed.
“Because Victoria sounded certain.”
There it was.
Confidence mistaken for authority.
Another capo had seen Marcus post the photograph.
He thought it was cruel.
Did nothing.
“Why?”
He answered honestly.
“I didn’t want to get between you and your family.”
I stared.
“My daughter was already between them.”
Silence.
That was the problem with neutrality.
It usually protects whoever already has power.
I removed all three from decisions involving household security and family access.
Not exile.
May you like
Consequence.
If they could watch a child disappear behind a wall and call it private family business, they did not belong near the systems that determined who was allowed through doors.
