Chapter 6 - Shadows on the North Side
The transition from a exhausted, debt-ridden waitress to a corporate officer of a Moretti-backed enterprise was violent and dizzying. Within two weeks, Bella found herself shuttling between Chicago and Baltimore, where Marco’s surgery had not only been successful, but had practically given the teenager a brand-new lease on life. He was breathing on his own for the first time in two years, color had returned to his cheeks, and he was already complaining about hospital food.
Yet, safety in the Chicago underworld was always a fragile, temporary illusion.
It was a rainy Tuesday night when the warning came.
Bella was working late in her newly upgraded office on the second floor above Lucia’s, reviewing supplier invoices, when the door swung open without a knock.
Vinnie Gallo walked in, closing the heavy wooden door behind him with a definitive click. His expression was grim, the usual sardonic amusement entirely absent from his face.
Bella looked up from her desk, her pen halting. “Vinnie? What’s wrong?”
“Pack your things,” Vinnie said tersely. “We’re moving you.”
Bella stood up, knocking her chair back against the wall. “Moving me? To where? My apartment is fine, my brother is in Baltimore, and I have a restaurant to run.”
“Salvatore Bianchi’s associates didn't appreciate the way Alessandro threw him out of here two weeks ago,” Vinnie said, his hand resting near his holster. “Bianchi’s bosses think Moretti is getting soft because he’s spending his time restructuring restaurant mortgages and playing white knight for waitresses.”
Bella’s blood ran cold. “They’re targeting me?”
“They’ve been watching your building for forty-eight hours,” Vinnie said bluntly. “Alessandro is already handling it, but until the North Side docks are completely cleaned out, you are not staying within city limits alone.”
“Where am I going?” Bella asked, her voice tight with rising panic.
“Hallowmere Manor,” Vinnie said. “Out on the coast. In Moretti’s private estate.”
Bella stared at him in disbelief. “An estate? You want to lock me away in a mobster’s mansion?”
“I want you alive,” Vinnie snapped. “Because if something happens to you, Alessandro will burn half of Illinois to the ground before breakfast, and I really don't feel like doing that much paperwork.”
Before Bella could argue further, the office phone on her desk rang shrilly.
She stared at it. Vinnie nodded slowly, stepping closer.
Bella reached out with a trembling hand and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Isabella,” a deep, familiar voice murmured through the static. It was Alessandro. He sounded calm, but underneath that calm was a cold, razor-sharp edge of absolute lethal intent.
“Vinnie told me,” Bella said, her breath catching. “Where are you?”
“On my way to settle a ledger,” Alessandro replied quietly. “Listen to me very carefully, Isabella. Get in the car with Vinnie. Do not look back. I will meet you at the estate before dawn.”
“Alessandro—don’t do something stupid over me,” she pleaded, her heart pounding against her ribs.
“I never do anything stupid, Isabella,” he replied softly. “I only do what is necessary.”
May you like
Click.
The line went dead.
