Chapter 11

When Moretti arrived in Sicily, I was attending an underground auction.That night I wore a black dress and sat beside Cesare.The hall was dim.When a waiter approached with wine, Cesare lifted one hand.He did not look at me.He only asked the waiter,"Who sent this?"The waiter's face changed.Cesare placed the glass back on the tray."Bring water."It was a small movement.No performance.No question afterward about whether I was afraid.He simply removed a possible danger before it reached me.Moretti stood not far away, and his expression turned ugly.Perhaps he finally remembered that I had not been born able to drink whatever glass was pushed into my hand.He had left me in that position for so long that even he had forgotten I should have been protected too.After the auction, Cesare gave us space.He did not interfere.He only waited at the far end of the corridor.Moretti looked at his back."Who is he?""The Consigliere of the Sicilian branch."My voice was calm."And my pa

Chapter 12

Moretti did not leave Sicily.He stayed at the estate arranged for him by the branch and tried to see me every day.I did not go.On the third night, Cesare knocked on my door."Someone is moving against Moretti."I looked up."Who?""The rival family from New York.""They know he came here for you. They want him dead on Sicilian ground."I closed the file in front of me."Where?"Cesare looked at me."You don't have to go.""I know."I stood and picked up my gun."But he can't die here."If he did, every deal I had just secured would turn into a problem.By the time we reached the docks, Moretti had already been shot.He was braced behind a stack of containers, pale but still firing back.When he saw me, his eyes lit."Iris."I did not answer.Cesare gave a silent order, and his men moved around the side.I circled from the other direction and took out the shooter on the high point.Gunfire cracked across the docks for nearly fifteen minutes.When it ended, Moretti was on one knee, no

Chapter 13

In New York, Bella's mistakes could no longer be hidden.The port losses, the leaked shadow routes, the records of her private contact with intermediaries, all of it was placed before the elders.Bella sat in the meeting room with red eyes."I didn't mean to.""I only wanted to help Moretti."An elder's voice was cold."If you wanted to help him, you should have known whether you were capable of it.""When Iris was here, the ports never failed like this."At the sound of my name, Bella's expression shifted.She looked instinctively at Moretti.This time, he did not speak for her.He placed a doctor's report on the table."Your panic attacks are real.""So is the fact that you exaggerated them for years."Bella's lips trembled."You investigated me?"Moretti looked at her."I wanted to know how many times I left her behind because of you."The room went silent.Bella finally broke down."What was I supposed to do?""She was better than me at everything.""Father favored her. The family

Chapter 14

The day we signed the long-term Sicilian agreement, the weather was clear.The windows of the meeting hall were open, and the wind off the sea carried in the scent of salt.The old Don sat at the head of the table and watched me sign the final page."From today on, the Sicilian art line belongs to Iris Vale."Applause rose in the room.It was not loud.It was enough.Cesare stood beside me and handed over a silver access badge."This is not your escape route," he said quietly."It is your new position."I took the badge and ran my thumb over the engraved lines.It was cool.It was real.After the meeting, Moretti came.He stood outside the hall with the underboss ring in his hand.The ring I had left on the plane.Somehow, he had found his way back to it."Iris."His voice was hoarse."I brought it back."I looked at the ring.It had once meant my place in the Valtieri family.It had also meant the seven years I had spent walking beside him.Now it was only the past."No."I said it ge

All Chapters of The Ninety-Ninth Time the Don Chose My Sister, I Walked Away: Chapter 11 - Chapter 14

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14