Chapter four: Nero

Dante’s declaration was just as fickle to me as his hatred was. I didn’t care. I owned him now.

My lips curled upwards in a smirk and I crossed the remaining space between us. He took a swift step back and I took a step forward, pinning him against the wall. His eyes fluttered briefly as I leaned in, breathing in that exquisite musk of his.

"That will make it so much fun to break you Dante," I replied in a slow languid tone. "And trust me, it’ll be just as you like it."

Tense reigned between us as I watched his face go from pale to red in less than ten seconds.

Then my phone started ringing. I froze as the vibrating object on my desk echoed through the entire study.

Straightening I stepped back feeling a mild displeasure stirring as I walked to the desk to pick up the phone. Zach.

That was quick. Had he found something on Dante so easily?

"You may leave. Wander about the house as you like. But don’t even think of leaving," I dismissed the unwitting object of my thoughts. He blinked once, twice, before storming out with lips pressed tightly together. The study door shut loudly in a slam as I answered Zach’s call.

"Speak."

"Okay," Zach began in a low whistle. "So we have some good news and bad news. This Dante guy is affiliated with one of our old foes. But he’s not been in this sort of business himself."

I had suspected such a thing from the way he held a fury-filled glare at me every time he crossed my path.

"Continue," I ordered and took my seat on the swivel chair behind my desk.

"You remember the Solace family, Don?"

I paused. The Solace family. Of course I remembered them. During a time when I was gathering allies and cutting out my piece of this city and others in the region, many families who followed the Vecchio Mafia in my territory were given a choice to join me. Many did. But some didn’t. Notably, one of the most influential mafia in the city kept themselves allied with my estranged family until the end: the Solace Family. I had seen each and every last one of them to their death.

It had been my hand that pulled the trigger on Grisham Solace. The next day all their land, their territory, and assets became mine.

"What of the Solace Family?"

"Dante. Or rather, Dante Solace is Grisham's son. The last living member of the Solace family."

My grip on the phone tightened. Was that even possible?

"I did some research quickly," Zach continued as though he hadn’t just dropped a fucking bombshell on me. "And Dante Solace has never been involved in the Mafia. In fact he left the city when he was 13 with his mother who died 3 years later. By all means dealing with him should be safe..."

But we’d have to determine where his alliance truly lay, I thought.

An image of the angry assassin tied to a chair in the basement cell block came to mind.

I leaned back, drumming my fingers against the mahogany desk.

What was I going to do with Dante Solace?

Time passed as I pored over paperwork and listened to reports from my men over the phone. Work for me never slept. And with Angelo’s damn trick at the cemetery the news was about and the police were starting to ask questions. They knew to never come towards my direction but still. This was bad for business.

I declined eating dinner with Marcus for today and asked his nanny to feed him and take him to stay in her bedroom until Layla arrived.

She had no choice but to return; her life was here and so was the luxuries she had become so greedy about since she had met me.

Just like I had predicted, the blonde haired woman barreled through my door at 11pm in the fucking evening. She looked surprised to see me patiently waiting for her in the living room, my gun in full view.

"Nero," she greeted like nothing was wrong with a soft smile on her lips.

"Where the fuck were you?" I asked her without any preamble. She fell silent briefly.

"I went out on an emergency," she replied and I raised a brow at her.

"You should think carefully about how you answer my questions Layla," my voice was low that only two of us could hear. "Especially if you want to see our son again."

My threat worked; her eyes went round like saucers and face contorted in defiant stupidity.

"Where’s Marcus?" Layla raised her voice at me. "Where have you hidden him?" She demanded.

I was silent, cocking my gun which made quite the echo in the room. She paled and took a step back swallowing audibly.

"I...I went to my brother’s place," she decided to course correct, lowering her voice and lashes at me like a coquettish doll.

I was unamused.

"Brother?" I crossed my legs and refrained from scoffing at her absolute lies. "This is the first I’d heard of such a thing. All the men you’ve ever had in your life were pimps and clients, Layla."

"He’s my brother, on my father’s side," her voice was filled with something new - fear.

I didn’t believe her at all. I knew she’d been running about with other men again. Men I’d have to pay off or kill to teach her a lesson.

Still, I was willing to play the fool at least for now. Until Marcus was five and could live without her.

Then I’d get rid of her and erase her presence from my son’s memories.

Layla had thought she could baby trap me and dig her way out of being an escort. But she had no idea that I wasn’t one of her normal Johns then. Now Layla knew she was stuck forever with a life she couldn’t live without.

The only good thing that came out of knowing her was securing my legacy.

My heir.

Rising to my feet I was about to speak when suddenly a loud voice filled the air.

"Get down!" I recognized it as Dante’s voice. Alarm bells rang in my mind as suddenly the French windows closest to me shattered and the sound of gunshots filled the previously silent air.

...