Page 176 of Double Trouble for the Mafia Prince
The irony of using the very shadow infrastructure against them isn't lost on me.
My father’s system has been repurposed to erase his would-be heirs.
Arditi is never seen again.
One day he is, and then, he simply isn't.
Not in the prison cells, not in the morgues, not anywhere.
He becomes the ultimate erasure, a testament to the fact that some secrets are meant to die with the people who hold them.
I feel a chill when I realize that for Arditi, death was likely the only mercy he received after spilling everything.
Rafa is harder.
He is held alone.
Separate from Arditi.
Separate from the staff.
No one speaks his name above ground.
The family doesn’t speak of him at all.
But I see the tension in Dante’s shoulders when the reports arrive.
I hear the hesitation in Marco’s voice when he updates us on security rotation.
No one knows what the right thing is.
No one dares to decide.
So I do.
I go down on the twelfth day.
They let me in without a word.
The hallway is long.
Cold seeps into my shoes and climbs my legs like something with claws.
There is no noise except for the low click of my heels and the deeper hum of something mechanical overhead.
I open the door myself.
He is thinner than I remember.
The bandage on his leg has darkened, but someone has changed it recently.
He stands when he sees me.
It is instinct more than pride.
His eyes search my face for permission to speak.
I give none.
