Chapter 7 - The Cleansing of the Villa
Two weeks passed.
The storm that had threatened to tear Lombardy apart was completely swept away.
With Lorenzo Rossi and the Romano family handed over to the state anti-mafia prosecution in Rome, the remaining eleven families of the Commission unanimously pledged absolute, unyielding loyalty to Alessandro Moretti.
The traitorous lieutenants were replaced by honest, battle-tested veterans. The shipping lines through Pier 42 were reopened under transparent management, and the dark cloud of fear that had hovered over Milan for five years dissolved into bright spring sunshine.
At Villa Moretti, changes were happening fast.
The old, oppressive rules that had kept the domestic staff living in fear were completely abolished. Wages were doubled, working hours normalized, and the staff quarters downstairs renovated into sunlit, comfortable living suites.
I stood on the second-floor balcony overlooking the grand gardens, wearing a soft pastel blue dress, watching Emma play on the manicured lawn below.
She was running through the green grass with Marco—who had surprisingly turned into a soft-hearted uncle, letting the three-year-old chase him around the rose bushes while holding her blue rabbit high in the air.
Gentle arms wrapped around my waist from behind.
I leaned back into Alessandro’s chest, feeling the steady, powerful rhythm of his heartbeat against my shoulder. The scent of dark tobacco, cedarwood, and rain enveloped me.
"You look peaceful, Clara," Alessandro whispered into my hair.
"I am peaceful, Alessandro," I smiled, turning in his arms to look up at his face. His blue eyes were clear, bright, and completely free of the icy tension that had gripped him when I first met him. "It’s quiet here now."
"It’s not going to be quiet for long," Alessandro noted smoothly, a hint of a rare, playful smile touching his lips.
I raised my eyebrows. "Oh? Why is that?"
Alessandro reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek gold key attached to a dark leather fob. He placed it in my palm.
"What is this?" I asked.
"The key to the Moretti Logistics Corporation," Alessandro explained, holding my hand gently. "I registered fifty percent of the primary shipping ports under your name this morning."
I gasped, staring at the heavy gold key in my hand. "Alessandro! Fifty percent?! That’s worth hundreds of millions of Euros! I can't accept that!"
"You solved the financial anomaly in the Navigli mill deed," Alessandro reminded me softly, his thumb caressing my wrist. "You know these ports better than my accountants. You are no longer managing my house, Clara. You are managing my empire."
Tears of pure, overwhelming gratitude filled my eyes. "Alessandro... I don't know what to say."
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"Say you’ll come to dinner with me tonight," Alessandro murmured, leaning down, his lips brushing against mine in a tender, lingering kiss that made my heart fly. "Just you, me, and Emma. No Commission bosses. No guards."
"I’d love that," I whispered against his lips.
