Dante Moretti POV

Elena turned to the Capos, her smile radiant yet entirely artificial.

"Gentlemen," she began, her voice smooth. "Thank you for coming. As you know, Dante has agreed to step down. He is weary. He desires a quiet life."

She cast a sharp glance at me, her eyes daring me to contradict the narrative.

"Please," she continued, gesturing broadly. "Pledge your loyalty to the new administration. To me. And to Julian, my acting Underboss."

The room fell into a heavy silence.

One of the Capos, Salvatore-a man who had sacrificed an eye fighting for my father-stepped forward. He looked at Elena. Then he looked at Julian. Finally, his one good eye landed on me.

"We pledge loyalty to the Boss," Salvatore rasped, his voice like gravel.

Elena clapped her hands together, the sound sharp in the quiet room. "Excellent! You see, Dante? It's done."

"They said 'The Boss'," I noted calmly. "They didn't say your name."

"I am the Boss!" Elena shrieked, her porcelain composure cracking. "I have the papers! I have the money!"

"Money runs out," I said, leaning back. "Respect lasts forever."

Julian marched up to Salvatore. He was a full foot shorter than the grizzled captain.

"Hey, old man," Julian barked, puffing his chest. "Say it properly. Say 'Boss Elena'. And show some respect to your acting Underboss."

Salvatore didn't move. He looked at Julian like he was a stain on the carpet.

"I was fighting in the trenches while you were still wetting the bed," Salvatore said, his tone dangerously calm.

Julian's face turned a deep, ugly red. He raised his hand to slap Salvatore.

"Don't," I commanded, my voice low but lethal.

Julian froze. He looked at me, then back at Salvatore. He lowered his hand, but his ego was visibly bruised.

"You see?" Julian said to Elena, spinning around. "They don't respect us. We need to clean house. Fire them all. We'll bring in new guys. Younger guys."

"We can't fire everyone, Julian," Elena whispered, her eyes darting nervously. "We need them to hold the streets."

"I can run the streets!" Julian insisted. He turned back to me. "You're a fallen king, Dante. Nobody wants you here. Just sign the damn paper."

"Why are you so eager?" I asked, studying them. "Is there a deadline I don't know about?"

Elena placed a hand on her stomach. The gesture was small, instinctively protective.

My eyes narrowed. I focused on her hand.

"Tell him," Julian said, a cruel smirk spreading across his face. "Tell him why we need the house and the money immediately."

Elena took a shaky breath. She looked at me with a mixture of defiance and pity.

"I'm pregnant, Dante."

The axis of my world stopped spinning for a second.

"It's Julian's," she added quickly. "We're going to be a family. A real family. Something you never gave me."

I felt a sharp pain in my chest, like a knife twisting between my ribs. I had wanted children. She had always claimed she wasn't ready. She said this life was too dangerous.

But for him? For this parasite? She was ready.

"You're carrying his child," I said, my voice devoid of emotion. "While still married to me."

"Yes," she said. "So you see, you have to leave. I need to protect my baby. I need the Moretti name for him."

"You intend to give my name to a bastard?" I asked.

"It's just a name!" she yelled. "Sign the papers!"

I stood up, the chair scraping violently against the floor.

"You have crossed a line, Elena," I said. "You didn't just break my heart. You insulted my blood."

Dante Moretti POV

"Get him out of here!" Julian screamed, his voice cracking with hysteria. "He threatened us! Enforcers! Throw him out!"

He pointed a trembling finger at the men standing by the door. The Enforcers. My personal guard. Men who had stood immobile as stone this entire time.

"Strip him!" Julian ordered, spittle flying from his lips. "Beat him until he can't walk! Show him who runs this city!"

The Enforcers didn't twitch.

"What are you doing?" Elena screamed at them, stepping forward. "I pay your salaries! I am your Queen! Obey him!"

The head Enforcer, a giant of a man named Luca, slowly turned his head. He looked at Julian, his expression blank.

Then he looked at Elena.

Finally, his dark eyes locked onto mine.

I lifted my right hand and calmly adjusted my cufflink. It was a small, subtle movement.

In an instant, the room exploded into motion.

Luca and the other Enforcers drew their weapons with terrifying speed. But they didn't aim at me.

They leveled their barrels at the mercenaries.

"Drop them!" Luca roared, the sound shaking the walls.

The mercenaries, realizing instantly that they were outgunned and outclassed by men who killed for a living, dropped their guns. Clatter after clatter echoed on the floor. They raised their hands, eyes wide with terror.

"What is this?" Julian stammered, backing away until he hit the table. "Elena! Do something!"

Elena stood frozen, her eyes wide with shock. "But... I signed the checks. I fired the old staff."

"You fired the staff on paper," I said, walking slowly around the table toward them. The sound of my footsteps was the only noise in the room.

"But loyalty isn't a contract, Elena. It's a bond. These men swore an oath to the Don. You cannot buy loyalty with stolen money."

I stopped directly in front of Julian. He was trembling violently. The arrogance was gone, replaced by the pathetic, primal fear of a coward.

"You wanted to sit at the head of the table," I said softly.

I punched him.

It wasn't a warning shot. It was a piston of rage driving straight into his face. I felt the cartilage of his nose crunch under my knuckles. Blood sprayed in a fine mist across Elena's pristine white dress.

Julian collapsed to the floor, screaming and clutching his ruined face.

"Dante!" Elena shrieked, trying to kneel beside him. "Stop! You're hurting him!"

I grabbed Julian by the collar and hauled him up. He was dead weight, sobbing through a mouthful of blood and broken teeth.

"You wanted to run the streets?" I asked him, forcing him to look at me. "This is the street, Julian. It's blood and bone. It's not suits and cigarettes."

I threw him toward the Enforcers like a sack of trash. "Hold him."

Luca grabbed Julian, pinning his arms painfully behind his back. Julian kicked and cried, begging Elena to save him.

Elena lunged at me, hammering her fists against my chest in a futile temper tantrum.

"You monster!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "He's the father of my child! You can't do this!"

I caught her wrists mid-air. It required no effort. She was so weak. I had made her strong, or so I thought. But without my protection, she was nothing.

"You want to talk about papers?" I asked, pulling a folded document from the inside pocket of my jacket.

I tossed it onto the table. It wasn't the transfer agreement she thought she held.

"Read it," I commanded.

Elena looked at the paper. Her hands were shaking so hard she could barely smooth it out.

"This... this isn't the transfer," she whispered, the color draining from her face.

"No," I said coldly. "I swapped the files in your safe three days ago. You thought you were tricking me into signing away my empire. What you actually signed, and what I signed, is a Renunciation of Protection and Assets."

I leaned in close, my voice a cold whisper against her ear.

"You are not Elena Moretti anymore. You are Elena Nothing. You have no money. You have no house. And you have no husband."

I stepped back, looking at the two of them with pure disgust. The traitor and the rat.

"You wanted to be independent," I said. "Congratulations. You're on your own."

I turned to my men. "Throw them out."

"Wait!" Julian gurgled, blood bubbling from his split lips. "The baby! She's pregnant!"

I stopped. Slowly, I looked at Elena's stomach.

"If that child is born," I said, my voice devoid of mercy, "pray it doesn't look like you. Because if it does, it will learn that in my city, treason is paid for in suffering."

I turned my back on them, straightening my jacket.

"Get them out of my sight."