"I... nothing. Nothing, truly," she stammered, shaking her head. "Luca, all he said was he wanted to make sure Don wasn’t making any rash decisions that could hurt him. He wanted to know whatever was going on when he is in New York."
Luca’s gaze remained fixed on her. Every twitch of her expression, every hesitation in her voice, was being meticulously analyzed. "And what information did you give him?" he demanded, his voice rising slightly, the edge of his anger now unmistakable.
Bianca swallowed hard. "Luca, I barely know anything," she insisted. "Don has his office where he handles his meetings when he is home. Other than that, everything else is done at the wharf or on the yacht. I’m not involved in those affairs. The only thing I did so far was to inform him when Marco was in Italy. That’s all!"
Attack from an enemy was expected; betrayal from within his own family was far more difficult to reconcile.
"Luca," she whispered, "I would never put the famiglia in danger. You have to believe me."
Reaching out, he gripped her chin firmly, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"If you are lying to me..." he began.
"Tell me what’s going on!" Bianca cried, her voice trembling as she searched Luca’s face for answers.
"Don is missing." he snatched his fingers away from her jaw.
Bianca’s eyes widened, and the color drained from her face. She staggered back a step, pressing a hand to her chest, to steady her racing heart. "Oh God! Oh God! Holy Mary, Mother of God!" she cried, her voice breaking as panic overtook her.
"Dinner is over," he said with finality.
Without another word, Luca strode out of the mansion. He stepped onto the front driveway. At the gate, several armed men stood on duty, their posture straightening at his approach.
"Double the security," Luca ordered. "No one enters without my explicit permission. I want additional men stationed around the perimeter and at Veronica’s house. Increase surveillance and check all communication lines. We may be facing retaliation."
"Yes, boss," one of the men responded, immediately moving to relay the instructions.
Luca pulled out his phone, already dialing contacts to mobilize reinforcements. Inside the mansion, Bianca reentered the dining room.
"My apologies," she announced, addressing the guests. "But we will have to cut our evening short."
"What’s going on?" Ricardo asked.
Bianca’s lips curved into a thin, enigmatic smile. "Wouldn’t you like to know?" she replied coolly. "Seems like there are traitors around, and you have the track record of being too loose with information."
Valentina’s chair scraped loudly against the floor as she made to rise, fury flashing across her face. "Excuse me?" she began.
But before she could lunge at Bianca, Ricardo reached out and gently held her back, his hand tightening around her arm.
Valentina glanced at him, her chest heaving with suppressed anger. Nonnina rose slowly from her seat.
"I’ll walk you to your car," she said gently, placing a comforting hand on Valentina’s arm. "You really should be careful with jumping around, mon figlio."
"Nonni, the food was amazing. Thank you," she said sincerely as she got to her feet. Ricardo instinctively reached for her hand. He could feel the tension still coursing through her. Valentina was unpredictable when provoked, and tonight, her claws were already unsheathed.


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