A Waitress Finds the Mafia Boss’s Daughter Unconsciou

The east wing of Villa Vitale was silent, save for the ticking of an antique grandfather clock in the hallway. Doctor Rossi, a trusted family physician who had served the Vitale family for three decades, stepped out of the bedroom and gently pulled the heavy oak door shut.

Alessandro was waiting in the corridor, leaning against the wall with an unlit cigar between his fingers. He had changed into a dark charcoal suit, his damp hair slicked back, his expression unreadable.

"Well?" Alessandro demanded.

"The children are exhausted, Don Alessandro, but healthy," Doctor Rossi said, adjusting his spectacles. "A bit underweight for their age, perhaps, but fundamentally strong. Donna Elena has taken exceptional care of them considering her financial constraints. I took the cheek swabs as you requested. The DNA results will be back from my private lab in less than six hours, though..." The old doctor offered a faint, knowing smile. "...looking at the boy, I doubt you truly need a piece of paper to tell you the truth."

"Do the test anyway," Alessandro replied curtly. "Not for me. For the council. When I drop this bomb on the five families, I want zero room for speculation."

"Understood. Donna Elena is currently resting beside them."

"Thank you, Doctor. Enzo will escort you out."

As the doctor walked down the hall, the quiet of the estate was abruptly shattered by the sound of screeching tires and a high-pitched scream from the grand foyer downstairs.

"Where is he?! Let go of me, you ape! Alessandro!"

Alessandro didn't flinch. He slowly pocketed the cigar, adjusted the gold cufflinks on his wrists, and walked toward the grand staircase.

Standing in the center of the marble foyer, her designer emerald evening gown drenched and ruined by the rain, was Donna Beatrice Ferrini. Her diamond necklace caught the glare of the chandelier, but her aristocratic, perfectly sculpted face was contorted with pure, unadulterated fury. Behind her stood two of her personal bodyguards, both of whom were currently staring down the barrels of Enzo and four other Vitale soldiers’ semi-automatic pistols.

"Put the guns away, Enzo," Alessandro said calmly as he descended the sweeping staircase, his shoes clicking rhythmically against the marble.

The guards lowered their weapons, but remained tense.

Beatrice turned toward him, her chest heaving, tears ruining her expensive mascara. "Alessandro! What is the meaning of this?! You walked out of our engagement gala! My father had to make excuses to two hundred of the most powerful people in Europe! He told them you had an urgent security breach!"

"He didn't lie," Alessandro said smoothly, reaching the bottom of the stairs and stopping five paces away from her. "There was an urgent family matter."

"A family matter?" Beatrice scoffed, taking a step toward him, her voice rising an octave. "You don't have a family! Your parents are dead! You have no siblings! *I* was supposed to be your family! We were supposed to sign the alliance papers tonight!" She pointed a trembling, manicured finger at his chest. "People are talking, Alessandro. They’re saying you ran out of the ballroom chasing a woman. A woman with children!"

"People talk too much in Rome," Alessandro murmured. "Perhaps a few tongues need to be removed to remind them of their manners."

"Is it true?!" Beatrice shrieked, ignoring his veiled threat. "Was it that... that pathetic stray you married in secret years ago? The little nobody from Naples?!"

A deadly silence fell over the foyer. The Vitale guards looked down, knowing that Beatrice had just crossed an invisible, lethal line.

Alessandro didn't raise his voice. Instead, his presence expanded, filling the room with an icy, suffocating dread. He took one slow step forward, towering over Beatrice until she instinctively took a step back, the fury in her eyes flickering into sudden fear.

"Choose your next words with extreme care, Beatrice," Alessandro whispered. "You are speaking of the mother of my heirs."

Beatrice’s jaw dropped. The color drained from her cheeks until she looked as white as the marble beneath her heels. "H-Heirs? What are you saying? She had your children?!"

"Twins," Alessandro said, each syllable striking like a hammer blow. "A boy and a girl. And as of tonight, our engagement is terminated."

"No!" Beatrice screamed, her voice cracking. "You can't do this! My father will destroy you! The Ferrini syndicate controls the northern shipping ports! Without our alliance, the Sicilian families will smell blood! You need this marriage, Alessandro!"

"I need nothing from the Ferrini family," Alessandro replied coldly. "And if your father wishes to test the strength of the Vitale family over a broken engagement, tell him to come with his army. I will personally bury him beneath the foundations of his own palazzo."

"You arrogant bastard!" Beatrice lunged forward, her hands raised as if to scratch his face, but Alessandro caught both of her wrists in one iron grip, twisting them slightly until she gasped in pain.

"Listen to me very carefully, Beatrice," Alessandro growled, leaning down so close she could feel the cold fury radiating from his breath. "If you or anyone in your family comes near this estate, or near Elena and my children, I will not simply cancel an alliance. I will wipe the Ferrini name off the face of this earth. Now get out of my house."

He released her wrists with a dismissive shove. Beatrice stumbled back, caught by her bodyguards. She looked at him with an expression of pure, unbridled hatred, tears streaming down her ruined makeup.

"You will regret this, Alessandro," she hissed, her voice venomous. "You threw away an empire for a ghost. And ghosts have a habit of dying twice."

With that parting threat, Beatrice spun around in her ruined emerald dress and stormed out into the pouring rain, her guards following closely behind.

Alessandro stood motionless in the foyer, watching the heavy doors slam shut.

"Enzo," Alessandro said without turning around.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Double the guards on the perimeter. Put snipers on the roof. And bring me everything we have on the Ferrini family’s internal communications over the last five years. Especially anything involving Marco."

"Right away, Boss."

As Enzo hurried off, Alessandro turned back toward the stairs. Standing at the top of the landing, wrapped in an oversized cashmere robe, was Elena. Her dark eyes were wide, having witnessed the entire confrontation.

Alessandro looked up at her from the foot of the stairs, the coldness vanishing from his face, replaced by a weary, desperate intensity.

"You heard?" he asked softly.

Elena gripped the marble banister tightly. "You just declared war on the most powerful family in northern Italy, Alessandro. For what?"

Alessandro slowly walked up the stairs toward her, stopping on the step just below her so their eyes were level.