Enemies and Friends

My intuition is working perfectly. Indeed, my entire board has been under maximum pressure starting with the annual Sterling Gala. Every person was investigated, their weaknesses, passions, dreams, and needs were uncovered… And whoever didn’t have such things had a family… And whoever didn’t have a family either had a house, a car, a dog, a cat…

Thus, everyone was blackmailed, threatened, and in this way, the takeover of the Sterling empire—now under my leadership—was prepared.

An alliance has been formed between three major mobsters, fierce and old enemies of my father. They considered my coming to the leadership of the empire a huge weakness and thought they could quietly take over the entire Sterling empire. Three of the biggest houses allied to ensure success. They infiltrated deeply into the leadership, into every department, weaving a sophisticated spider's web, or so they thought: Fam. Cavalcante, Viscount, The Vance Empire or Vance & Co., Kovach Syndicate or The Kovach Family are the three who allied against us.

Thus, I was to be sidelined and dismissed as unfit; major legal problems, financial fraud, embezzlement, and improper professional conduct were being framed against me, leaving me with two solutions: prison or a forced marriage with… Cavalcante.

I took the file, put it in my purse, and just as I was walking out of the office, I bumped into Dante at the door. Such a handsome man!!! I looked into his royal blue eyes and lost myself for a second too long. The next second, his smile hit me straight in the soul.

Ahhhh. He caught me! He caught on! And he smiled at the corner of his mouth. He, who had never smiled in front of anyone. The Boss of Steel. The Iron Hand. The Diamond Eye! The man whose gaze cuts like a diamond, who rules with an iron hand clad in a velvet glove, the boss who bows to no one—Dante Moretti, my future husband. He kissed me on the forehead in front of everyone and took me by the waist, leading me toward the elevator. I felt protected. He surrounded me with attention, helped me, supported me. In the car, I rested my head on his shoulder and dozed off. He wrapped me in his coat, enveloped me in his scent. My hand rested in his large, warm hand.

I am definitely falling in love. And I don't regret it! So far, he is a perfect man.

When we got home, we sat in the office together with my dad and took out the file. Dante and dad looked at each other and exchanged sharp glances. Dante let his eyes wander to the paintings, while dad pulled out a file almost similar in thickness to mine. Then, from a hidden safe in the bookcase, he pulled out 28 more files and pushed them toward me, telling me:

– In just the last ten years, there have been 28 coups. 28 attempts to take over the Sterling power. Every time, I was prepared, I knew, I fought back, I won. I didn't destroy them, because business without worthy competition brings no satisfaction, and these ones I at least have known forever. I only neutralized them temporarily. And now I knew, I acted, I won, and I taught you a lesson. Something you didn't learn at your elite schools: defense prevention, anticipating the attack, infiltrating the enemy, evaluating discrepancies, constantly updating risks.

It is true that you were sick and missed out on this exact month when they allied, prepared, and struck. They thought your youth was immaturity. They couldn't defeat you in contracts, financial analyses and forecasts, and they couldn't outsmart you on the stock market. So they preferred to attack you directly. What didn't they anticipate? That I and your brothers would go about our business, seemingly indifferent yet vigilant, and… that Dante would actually fall in love with you. But they took a risk. And they lost.

I immediately shifted my gaze to Dante. He was standing by the window, looking at the garden. Contemplating it. As if he didn't even hear our discussion. He displayed total indifference, but the tension in his body showed his concern for the present moment and for my answer. Which did not come.

I got up from the armchair, kissed my dad on the cheek, and retreated without another word to my bedroom. I undressed and stepped into the tub filled with almost hot water, adding relaxing bath salts and plenty of foam. I relaxed slowly until I reached an almost catatonic state. I slowly got out of the tub and, with my last strength, wrapped myself in a large bathrobe and threw myself onto the bed, falling asleep in a second. Or maybe a second is too long…

In my sleep, someone seemed to take me in their arms and place me under the warm blanket. It seemed… I saw a man bending over me, watching me closely, and then in the armchair in the room, the scent… that scent I know enveloped me… the fatigue, the hard days that had passed, the waltz, the weapons, the attack, the smell of gunpowder, of fired bullets, the heavy hands gripping my arms and dragging me, the bullet that whizzed past my ear, I breathed heavily, I struggled, I cried, two arms held me tight, gently rocking me like a child… the nightmares left, deep sleep enveloped me in its downy mantle....

Morning came too fast. I woke up more tired than when I went to bed.

I joined my father for breakfast. He informed me that Dante had left for London and then Sicily and would be away for two weeks. I wonder why he didn't tell me last night, too. While I'm drinking my coffee and talking to dad, my phone rings. I look at the screen and turn pale…

Stay close! I'll be back in 3 days. I'm waiting for you with love! I write for you!