"Then you're wrong." Luca's tone is matter-of-fact. "Better to eliminate a potential threat than leave one alive to destroy everything. Father taught us that."
"She's my wife."
"She's your weakness. And in our world, weakness gets you killed, another lesson Father taught." He pauses. "You called because you already know what needs to be done. You just want someone to tell you it's okay."
But it's not okay. None of this is okay. And the thought of Isabella dead by my command makes me physically ill.
"You were the one who told me Isabella could be an asset against her family," I remind Luca. "That first night after the wedding rehearsal. You said if I played it right?—"
“I was wrong," Luca interrupts sharply. "She wasn’t as innocent and naïve as we thought.”
Of all the decisions I’ve had to make since becoming Don, this is by far the most difficult. If I’m wrong, the guilt will consume me. The fact that I feel guilt means Isabella has gotten into my heart. The best thing would be to tear her out.
"Alessandro," he finally says, "what's really going on here? Is this about uncertainty... or is it about her?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Bullshit. I've watched you sacrifice everything for this family. I've seen you make impossible decisions without blinking. Yet here you are, hesitating to eliminate a clear threat."
"The evidence?—"
"Is damning. You know it. I know it." He sighs. "So what's different this time? What makes Isabella Vitale the exception to every rule we've lived by except that she’s a woman?"
What does make her different? The way she challenged me from the start? How she never cowered, even when she should have? The vulnerability in her eyes when she confessed she was falling for me?
"I need to be certain," I manage.
“If you’re not certain, why did you send her back to her family? At this point, you’ve abandoned her and her family is probably using her anger at that to their advantage. If she wasn’t working with her father before, she surely is now.”
Fuck.
"I can only surmise that your doubt comes from having feelings for her. Are you in love with her, Alessandro?"
Am I? Is that what this emptiness is? So what if it is? What I want or need isn’t important.
"It doesn't matter what I feel. This is about the safety of our family."
"It matters," Luca counters. "Because it's clouding your judgment."
He's right. But knowing it doesn't make the answer any clearer.
"Whatever you decide," Luca says, "I'm with you. But Alessandro... be sure. Be absolutely fucking sure. Because this isn't a decision you can take back."
I am sure. There’s no other explanation. Is there?
“And if you need me, I’ll be there for you. I wouldn’t mind killing a few Vitales.”
“Thank you, Luca.”
When I end the call, I stare at the security footage one more time. Enrico, the key, the destruction. The evidence seems irrefutable.
And yet…
I close my eyes, seeing Isabella's face as I hauled her out of bed and made her leave. The shock. The confusion. The hurt.
The Vitale family must pay for what they've done. Of that, I have no doubt. Marco and Enrico have signed their death warrants with their treachery.
But Isabella...
