Chapter 10
Noah stopped crying.
That frightened me more.
Children sometimes go quiet when they realize tears cannot change the person they want.
I crouched beside him.
“Do you want to go with your mother?”
He nodded.
I sent Isabella and Noah into a private fitting room with two trusted guards.
No cameras.
No men.
No questions.
Then I faced the adults.
Matteo smiled.
“Now can we discuss the organization?”
“No.”
His smile faded.
“You think the boy matters more than North Harbor.”
“Yes.”
Luca laughed.
Matteo stared at me as if I had confessed weakness.
“You’re proving my point.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“I’m proving why you will never understand my chair.”
Grant leaned against the broken catalog rack.
“You think love makes you noble.”
“No.”
“I think loyalty starts at home.”
Vanessa scoffed.
“That line will impress the capos.”
I turned.
“Good.”
Her expression changed.
I called them.
Every senior Bellandi capo within an hour was ordered to the showroom.
Matteo stopped smiling.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“This stays internal.”
“It is internal.”
“No.”
He looked around.
“This is humiliation.”
“Yes.”
Finally.
“Yours.”
While we waited, I checked the burner phones.
One conversation with Vale stood out.
VALE:
Does Isabella suspect?
MATTEO:
Not enough.
VALE:
The boy?
MATTEO:
Three years old.
VALE:
Children remember.
MATTEO:
Then teach him fear.
I stared at Matteo.
“You knew Grant was hurting Noah.”
He shrugged.
“I knew Grant kept his house disciplined.”
Grant looked at him.
“You told me to.”
Isabella’s voice came from the fitting room doorway.
Everyone turned.
She had heard.
Grant went pale.
“You told him to hit our son?”
Matteo rolled his eyes.
“I told him weakness spreads.”
Isabella’s face changed.
Not tears.
Something colder.
She walked toward Grant.
“You blamed me every time.”
He whispered:
“Isabella—”
“You told me I made you angry.”
No answer.
“You told Noah he embarrassed you.”
Silence.
She looked at Matteo.
Then Grant.
May you like
“And both of you called that leadership.”
For the first time, my daughter was no longer asking permission to understand what happened to her.
