Chapter 48: Concerquinces

Bianca

Morning came too soon, I thought I could sleep longer but the baby had other plans. I woke up, cleaned up only to find Alessandro already dressed, standing at the window with a cup of coffee that had gone cold in his hand.

The bruises under his eyes suggested he'd slept as poorly as I had. He was brooding and it looked like he was having an internal war.

"I'm going to speak with Danilo," he said without turning. "Stay here. Please . I know myself. There is a part of me that you'll get to know but I think you're already know who I am inside and out and you still love me for who and what I am and I love you for that. "

It wasn't a request. He kissed my forehead and then kissed me slow and sweet.

" I am so sorry that you got dragged into my brother's mess . You acted from a good place, I just can't with him.

After he left I did some work because I needed to make sure that everything was in order before I could do what I love. By the time I made it downstairs, raised voices were echoing from Alessandro's study.

"I am not a child anymore! You can't just lock me up like a teenager."

"I can do whatever the hell I want!"

Alessandro's roar cut through the walls.

"This is my house, my city, my organization that you've endangered with your recklessness! "

I froze at the bottom of the stairs.

"You're grounded," Alessandro continued, his voice dropping to that deadly calm that was somehow more frightening.

"You don't leave this property without my explicit permission. You don't make phone calls I don't approve. You breathe because I allow it. You'll understand later why later."

"This is insane. They were dragging our family name through the mud they were saying things like we need the Morena's to survive."

"You want insane?" Papers slammed against wood. "You started a fight with Vitale's nephew. Vincent Vitale, Danilo. The man who's been looking for any excuse to move against me since our father lied. You handed him a gift-wrapped justification for retaliation."

"I didn't know," Danilo said, smaller now. "He didn't say anything"

"You never know because you never think!" Another crash. "And then you dragged my pregnant wife to be into your mess, made her complicit in keeping this from me. If you ever put Bianca in a position like that again I will personally put you on a plane back to Sicily. You can spend the rest of your miserable life under Roberto's thumb, learning what real consequences feel like."

"Alesso , please. I did not know. Oh my word I'm going to be an uncle. I'm so sorry.

"Get out. Stay in your room. I'll send someone with food."

Footsteps approached. I barely had time to retreat to the kitchen before Danilo emerged, his face blotchy with tears and rage. He saw me, opened his mouth, then thought better of it and fled up the stairs.

Alessandro appeared a moment later. Our eyes met across the foyer.

"He's twenty" I said quietly. "He made a mistake. We're both still alive Danilo included."

"He made a catastrophically stupid choice that could have gotten people killed."

Alessandro's jaw was tight. "And you enabling him doesn't help either of you."

"I wasn't enabling him"

"You were." He crossed to me, and for the first time since yesterday, I saw something other than anger in his eyes. Fear.

"Bianca, you don't understand how precarious our position is. Every move I make is watched, judged, tested. The moment I show weakness, the moment someone thinks they can exploit a crack in my foundation " He stopped, running a hand through his hair. "Danilo is a crack,you keeping secrets makes that crack spread like ice cracking on a lake that's not fully Frozen"

"So we just cut him loose? Let him drown? He is your brother and my brother too he is valuable he is blood "

"We set boundaries. We enforce consequences." He touched my face, gentle despite everything. "I know you want to save everyone, tesoro. It's one of the things I love most about you. In my world, compassion without strategy gets people killed."

He kissed my forehead and left for his meeting with the Marc

I stood in the kitchen, hand on my belly, and wondered if he was right. If my desperate need to help had only made everything worse. My family was powerful and with that came a lot of protection so there was nothing for him to worry about but I do understand where he was coming from. I also knew the truth about his father , he needed to know.