Marco Bellucci, controlled by Kieran because of gambling debts.
He'd leaked my whereabouts.
He'd taken five million dollars in blood money.
Then, six months after I controlled Philadelphia, he "committed suicide." Guilt-driven suicide, or Kieran silencing him?
It no longer mattered. What mattered was that Noelle's father had tried to kill me.
And Noelle—did she know? If she did, then her mother selling her to me could only be premeditated. Her becoming Kieran's sleeper would make perfect sense.
Her father was my enemy. She might be the mole.
Vodka burned my throat but couldn't drive away the chill in my heart.
Just moments ago, I'd been planning our next trip, wanting to show her more of the world. I'd even had people prepare the Norwegian fjord itinerary, wanting to surprise her.
Now, it was all a joke. An absurd and cruel joke.
I poured another glass, downing it harshly.
Noelle's smile lingered in my mind. Every smile, every word, every spontaneous embrace...
Was any of it real?
I gripped the glass tightly, knuckles white.
No.
I couldn't continue like this.
I had to stay calm. Stay rational.
I pulled out my phone, calling Dmitri.
"Initiate the final plan. Under the pretense of 'debt collection,' seize all restaurants and companies under the Bellucci family name. Cut off all their food import channels."
"Boss..." Dmitri's tone was hesitant. "If we do this, the Bellucci family will be completely finished. Sofia Bellucci will..."
"I want her to become truly penniless before dawn."
"Yes, Boss."
I hung up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out at Gladwyn Manor's night landscape. Moonlight bathed the snow-covered forest, everything so peaceful, so beautiful.
Like a carefully woven lie.
I didn't go find Noelle.
I waited.
Like a hunter waiting for prey to enter the trap.
I'd wait for her to receive the news, to come running to me in panic, to watch her shatter piece by piece before me.
Just like her father had once tried to do to me.
Chapter Thirty
