Chapter 7 - THE RIVAL'S ULTIMATUM
The illusion of safety shattered the next morning. A burner phone Dante kept in his duffel bag rang. It was Marchesi. He had tracked down Sera's mother, threatening to execute her unless Dante surrendered his control over the city's ports and turned himself in.
Dante's face drained of color. He hung up the phone and immediately began packing bags. "I'm sending you and the boys to Europe," he ordered, his voice devoid of emotion. "My jet is waiting." Sera grabbed his arm. "What about my mother? What about you?" Dante refused to look at her. "I'll handle Marchesi. It's a suicide mission, Sera. I'm not coming back. But you will be safe. I'll wire five million to your account."
"I don't want your money!" she screamed, the first time she had ever raised her voice at him. "You don't get to buy your way out of being a father! You don't get to abandon us to play the martyr!" She backed him into the wall, her finger jabbing his chest. "We are going to save my mother. And you are going to survive. Because if you die, I will bring you back just to kill you myself." Dante stared at the furious, magnificent woman before him, realizing he had finally met someone who terrified him more than his enemies.
