Chapter 533:?The First Family
Chapter 533:?The First Family
Chapter 533:?The First Family
The old Saint Marlowe Hotel had never felt so crowded.
Not because people filled its halls.
Because Isabella could suddenly feel eyes everywhere.
Behind the boarded windows.
Beyond the cracked doors.
In the dark rooms above them.
Watching.
Waiting.
She stood beside Dante in the abandoned ballroom, staring at the photograph Luca had given them.
Her own face stared back from the glossy paper.
She looked younger in the picture.
Unaware.
Unprotected.
Normal.
That version of herself seemed like someone else now.
“How many?” Dante asked.
Luca coughed from the floor.
“What?”
“How many people were following her?”
Luca wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Enough.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is the only one I have.”
Elena stepped closer.
“We need to leave.”
Dante looked at her.
“No.”
Elena frowned.
“What?”
“We don't run again.”
“Dante—”
“We've spent too long reacting to everyone else's moves.”
He looked at Isabella.
“Voss expects us to run.”
Isabella understood immediately.
“So we don't.”
“No.”
Dante folded the photograph and slipped it into his jacket.
“We make him come to us.”
Luca laughed weakly.
“You think Voss is going to walk into a trap?”
“No.”
Dante checked his weapon.
“I think he'll believe he's setting one.”
Isabella stared at him.
“You have a plan?”
“Not yet.”
She almost smiled.
“That sounds reassuring.”
“It wasn't supposed to.”
For the first time that night, Isabella laughed.
It lasted only a second.
But Dante noticed.
His expression softened.
“You okay?”
She looked at him.
“No.”
“Good.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“Good?”
“If you were okay after everything tonight, I'd be worried.”
She looked away.
“I don't know who I am anymore.”
Dante stepped closer.
“You're Isabella.”
“That isn't enough.”
“It is to me.”
She met his eyes.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
“My father disappeared because of people I never knew existed. My mother has spent years hiding things from me. A criminal council apparently wants me to inherit an empire I never asked for.”
She swallowed.
“And now Voss is hunting me.”
Dante reached for her hand.
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
“My father disappeared too.”
Isabella fell silent.
Dante's voice lowered.
“I spent years believing Antonio abandoned us.”
He looked toward the dark hallway.
“Then I learned he hadn't.”
“What happened?”
“I don't know.”
“Because Voss has the recording.”
Dante nodded.
“And that's what we're getting.”
Elena interrupted.
“You don't know what that recording contains.”
“Exactly.”
“That is why you should leave it alone.”
Dante turned toward her.
“You knew about it.”
Elena's face tightened.
“I knew enough.”
“Where did you hide it?”
“At Saint Marlowe.”
“In that room.”
“Yes.”
Isabella looked at her mother.
“Why?”
Elena hesitated.
“Because your father asked me to.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was trying to keep you alive.”
Isabella shook her head.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
She stepped backward.
“Everyone lies to me because they think they're protecting me.”
Dante moved toward her.
“Isabella.”
She looked at him.
“What if I don't want this?”
“You don't have to.”
“What if they won't let me walk away?”
“Then they answer to me.”
Elena stared at Dante.
“You don't understand what you're saying.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No, you don't.”
Her voice became sharper.
“The seven families have existed longer than Blackwater. They don't negotiate when they decide something belongs to them.”
Dante smiled coldly.
“Then they've never met me.”
A loud metallic clang echoed somewhere upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Dante immediately raised his weapon.
Isabella stepped closer to him.
“What was that?”
Luca whispered, “They're here.”
“How many?”
“Enough to kill us.”
Dante looked toward the ballroom doors.
“Is there another exit?”
Luca nodded.
“Kitchen.”
Dante pointed toward Isabella.
“You and Elena go.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Isabella.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
“This isn't a debate.”
“It is now.”
Dante stared at her.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then another sound came from above.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone was walking down the staircase.
Elena's face drained of color.
“Oh God.”
Isabella looked at her.
“Who?”
“The first family.”
The lights suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the ballroom.
A gunshot exploded.
Dante grabbed Isabella and pulled her behind a marble pillar.
Glass shattered.
Someone screamed from the hallway.
“Stay down,” Dante whispered.
“I am.”
He leaned around the pillar and fired twice.
A man shouted.
Then silence.
Dante looked at Isabella.
“Can you move?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
They ran.
Elena followed.
Luca tried to stand.
Dante grabbed him by the arm.
“You're coming.”
“I can't.”
“You're coming.”
They reached the kitchen.
Dante kicked open the service door.
Cold air rushed inside.
They entered a narrow alley behind the hotel.
Rain had begun falling.
Isabella stopped.
Across the street stood a black limousine.
Its rear door opened.
A man stepped out.
He wore an immaculate charcoal suit.
Silver hair.
A black cane.
Two armed men stood behind him.
He didn't look frightened.
He looked amused.
“Isabella Vale.”
Her stomach tightened.
Dante stepped in front of her.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“Alexander Moretti.”
Luca went pale.
“The Morettis.”
Alexander inclined his head.
“The first family.”
Dante raised his gun.
Alexander didn't move.
“You're very brave.”
“I'm not brave.”
Dante's finger rested against the trigger.
“I'm angry.”
Alexander laughed.
“That makes you dangerous.”
He looked past Dante toward Isabella.
“Your father said the same thing.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“You knew my father?”
Alexander's smile faded.
“I knew Antonio better than almost anyone.”
“Where is he?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether you truly want the answer.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“This is over.”
Alexander shook his head.
“No.”
He looked directly at Isabella.
“It has barely begun.”
Isabella stepped beside Dante.
“What does your family want from me?”
“Nothing.”
She frowned.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Voss has made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
Alexander looked toward the hotel.
“He believes the council belongs to him.”
Dante lowered his weapon slightly.
“And it doesn't?”
“No.”
Alexander's expression became cold.
“Voss was useful. Nothing more.”
Isabella felt a chill.
“Then who controls the council?”
Alexander smiled.
“That is the question your father spent twenty years trying to answer.”
Dante stepped closer.
“And did he?”
Alexander looked at him.
“Yes.”
The rain intensified.
“Antonio discovered who truly controlled Blackwater.”
“Who?”
Alexander's gaze returned to Isabella.
“You.”
She stared at him.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Alexander opened the limousine door.
“Come with me.”
Dante laughed.
“You've lost your mind.”
Alexander ignored him.
“Your father left something for you.”
Isabella's heart stopped.
“What?”
“A message.”
“Where?”
Alexander looked toward the hotel.
“In the room your mother sealed twenty years ago.”
Elena whispered, “No.”
Alexander's eyes shifted toward her.
“You knew he'd leave it there.”
Elena said nothing.
Isabella looked at her mother.
“You knew.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Of what you'd become if you ever found out.”
Dante took Isabella's hand.
Alexander watched them.
Then he smiled.
“That,” he said quietly, “is exactly what Voss is afraid of.”
He stepped back toward the limousine.
“Midnight is coming.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“Tell Voss I'll be waiting.”
Alexander smiled.
“I wasn't speaking about Voss.”
He looked at Isabella one last time.
“I was speaking about your father.”
Then he disappeared into the limousine.
The vehicle drove away.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Finally, Isabella turned toward Dante.
“My father left me a message.”
Dante nodded.
“And we're going to find it.”
She looked back at the dark hotel.
“Tonight.”
Dante squeezed her hand.
“Together.”
Behind them, Elena whispered the words neither of them wanted to hear.
“If Antonio left that message…”
She looked toward the disappearing limousine.
“…then he knew exactly what was coming.”
Dante stared into the rain.
“And now we do too.”
Isabella looked at him.
“Let's find my father.”
Dante nodded.
“Let's find the truth.”
And together, they walked back into the darkness of Saint Marlowe Hotel.