"You did what benefited you. And when it blew up, you let everyone else pay the price." I straighten my jacket. "I'm done paying for your mistakes, done letting you dictate my choices, done pretending you're anything other than a cautionary tale."
"Dante—"
"We're finished. You and me." I turn to walk away, pause. "Don't call. Don't show up at my house. Don't contact Bianca. You're not family anymore. I don’t want anything to do with you."
I leave him standing there and don't look back.
Later, in Matteo's private suite upstairs, the Brotherhood gathers.
"You really cut him off," Luca says. "Completely."
"Yes."
"About damn time," Rafe mutters.
Matteo pours drinks—water for me, bourbon for everyone else. "So. The scandal."
Here it comes.
"Caterina's finished," he continues. "Massimo sent her to their estate in Sicily indefinitely. The article she released? It was live for less than an hour before we buried it. Most people never saw it."
I blink. "An hour?"
"Luca's good at his job." Matteo grins. "Between legal threats and financial pressure, we got it pulled fast. A few gossip sites picked it up, but we killed those too. The story never gained traction."
"How many people saw it?" My voice is careful.
"Maybe a few thousand, most of them our world—people who already knew not to talk." He sips his bourbon. "After the grand scandal with Caterina kidnapping your woman and you killing Adrian in front of witnesses? No one cares about old escort records. They're too busy wondering if they're next on your shit list."
Relief crashes through me. "So Bianca's safe."
"Your woman's safe, your reputation's intact, and you've got a foundation that makes you look like a goddamn saint." Matteo raises his glass. "Congratulations. You won."
"We won," I correct.
"Same thing, brother."
I find Bianca on the balcony overlooking Central Park. She's leaning against the railing with the city spread out below her like a promise, the emerald dress catching the moonlight.
"You okay?" I ask.
"I don't know." She doesn't turn around. "Everything's different now. Mom's gone. Adrian's dead. Caterina's exiled. The article's buried. It's like... it's over."
"It is over."
"So what happens now?"
"Now?" I move behind her, wrap my arms around her waist. "Now we live. We build something real. We stop running from the past and start creating a future."
"With The Elena Fund."
"With whatever you want." I rest my chin on her shoulder. "I meant what I said in that speech. You gave me something real. Something I'll honor forever."
She turns in my arms, looks up at me. "I love you."
"I know."
"Say it back, you impossible man."
