Chapter 76: A Life For A Life
Dante’s POV
The idea that Lorenzo had buried my wife’s inheritance under Gianna’s name felt obscene, like a final insult laid on top of everything he’d already taken. He’d planned it so even if I found him, I still couldn’t touch what was
mine..
All the rage I’d been holding back surged forward. Before I realized it, I had raised the gun and pointed it at Mateo’s chest.
“You son of a…” I couldn’t finish. The words ripped out of me.
“You didn’t just help that bastard take her life. You stole her inheritance and hid it under his daughter’s name. You thought you could win by burying it where I’d never find it. You don’t deserve to breathe.”
Mateo’s face went white, his lips shaking. “Please… please, Don…” he begged, trying to crawl away in the chair though the chains held him. “Don’t, I’ve told you everything you asked, please don’t…”
My hand stayed on the gun. Every part of me wanted to end it right there, to pull the trigger and take my revenge.
I shifted the gun slightly, my thumb pulling the trigger, intentionally missing Mateo’s head by a hair.
The shot echoed off the walls.
Mateo convulsed. His eyes clamped shut, his lips trembling as he muttered inaudible words between a prayer and a sob.
I let out a sinister laugh. “I’m going to let you live under one condition.” I leaned closer, pressing the gun against his forehead until he froze. “You work for me now. Is that clear?”
Sweat pooled along his temples. “Y–yeah… yes.”
I held the gun on him for another second longer, long enough to let him feel that I had his life in my hands, so he knew I owned him.
Then I shoved the gun down and slid it back into my jacket. Killing him now would have been easy. But I needed him alive if I wanted the inheritance back. Most importantly, he was the only piece that could lead me to Lorenzo.
“You do exactly what I tell you, when I tell you,” I demanded. “One wrong move, and I won’t just end your life, I’ll go after everyone you love.”
I let my gaze darken, my tone drop even lower. “Especially your girlfriend… Rosalina, isn’t it?”
Mateo’s face drained of color. “Don’t,” he stammered, his voice rising. “Don’t go near her, please…”
I tilted my head. “She’s pregnant, right? Seven months?”
His eyes went wide with terror, confusion twisting his expression. I could almost see the thoughts racing through his head, fear, desperation, the image of what I might do if he made a wrong move,
“Please, don’t hurt her…” he croaked again, voice breaking
I bent slightly, meeting him eye to eye. “I know exactly where she lives, an apartment on the south side.”
Bruno’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll put men on her. One sniff of betrayal and she won’t be left standing.”
Mateo sucked in a breath, the best liar finally choosing whigh half–truth to sell. He spat the address out between ragged breaths.
I straightened. “Start talking. Names, banks, routes. How do you move his money now? Where does it go?”
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Chapter 76 Alte For Affe
+25 Bonus
He stared at the floor for a beat, then forced his voice up. “Orders come in encrypted. I move transfers every time we get a ping. He uses shell companies.”
“Who authorizes the transfers? Who has the key?”
Silence stretched. He licked cracked lips. “The push code, only Lorenzo can authorize that. It’s generated on his phone, then confirmed with the bank’s token. I can queue transfers, set destinations, but until the code drops I can’t move the big stuff.”
I wanted to laugh and smash something at the same time. So he’s breathing. If he’s moving money, he can be found. We trace the accounts, trace the code origin, and we find him.”
Mateo’s eyes filled. “He’ll kill me if I lead you to him.”
“You’ll die if you don’t,” I said coldly. “And if you lead us astray, Rosalina and that baby will pay the price.”
He swallowed hard. “Give me your word you won’t hurt either of them.”
“As long as you do everything I order, they’ll be safe,” I answered.
He swallowed and then pushed out the next thing. “I need my laptop. All the logs are on it. I can pull destinations, compile the last six months. But it’s not with me. I hid it in Mercer. I meant to grab it after the job, before your men found me.”
“Mercer,” I repeated, the map of the city folding in my head. “If my men fetch your laptop, how long before we can pin Lorenzo down?”
He spat a little blood. “I can’t say. Days… weeks… months. Lorenzo shifts constantly. To be sure, I need the next transfer, the code, to see the trail.”
“Don’t even think about betraying me,” I said, cold. “Or…”
“Please,” Mateo cut in, begging. “You’ll have men on me at all times. I won’t betray you. I swear.”
Bruno scoffed. “Trust a liar because he swore? Beautiful.”
Angelo’s voice went flat. “We can fetch the laptop right now.”
“Give my men the exact location,” I ordered, then turned and began walking, “And they better come back with a laptop.”
I turned to Angelo in the doorway and laid it out fast, no room for questions.
“Fade, take the men. Go to Mateo’s building. Keep him wathed at all times. Get eyes on Rosalina’s apartment. Put men on her door. Record everything. Show the videos to Mateo. Let him see we mean it.”
Angelo didn’t hesitate. “Boss, on it.” He barked orders, flagged men, and they ran.
I walked out before they finished packing gear. The warehouse doors slammed behind me. I didn’t wait for Bruno. I walked hard to the car because I needed the air, knowing was about to hound me.
This was a joke, a rotten, cowardly stunt Lorenzo was still ulling from whatever hole he crawled into. It made my blood run hot, I wanted to drag him out and put a bullet though his skull.
Bruno caught up and fell into step beside me. “Don…”
“Not now,” I snapped, stopping in my tracks.
He kept up the pace, “I know. You thought once we found him you’d get Esmeralda’s money back. We’re closer, closer than we’ve ever been. But you’ve got to…”
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25 Borun
“Don’t say it.” I waved him off, not wanting to hear it now
He planted himself in front of me.
“You have no choice, Don. Marry Gianna Giovanni, now. We can’t waste time.”
I didn’t answer. I kept walking. He didn’t understand, it wasn’t simple. Marrying the daughter of the man who had killed my wife, binding myself to the blood that had ruined everything, felt like betrayal in its rawest form Worse, I had begun to know Gianna, the innocent girl hiding beneath that hard, defiant exterior, and that made everything harder. Having her as a mistress on paper had been one thing, and physically and emotionally breaking her had made me no saint.
But tying her down with marriage felt like stealing from someone who deserved better, a younger man who could have loved her completely, not a man consumed by revenge
Fuck, what was wrong with me?
I shouldn’t feel pity. I shouldn’t feel guilt.
A life for a life, that was the core rule I’d ever lived by.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
