Chapter 10 - A Sister’s Vow
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"No," Noel said firmly, grabbing Dante’s sleeve with both hands before he could turn toward the door. "Look at me, Dante. Look at me right now."
Dante paused, looking down at his younger sister. The ruthless crime boss who made mayors sweat seemed to vanish for a fraction of a second, replaced by an older brother who had raised a terrified fifteen-year-old girl after their parents and his wife were murdered.
"You promised me," Noel said, her voice trembling with fierce intensity. "Two years ago, on Mom’s birthday, you swore to me that you were moving the family out of blood and into legitimate shipping and real estate. That’s the only reason I stayed in Providence instead of moving to Vienna. If you kill Preston Hollis tonight, it starts a war with Vance, the feds come down on the port, and everything you promised me was a lie."
"He put his hands on you, Noel," Dante said, a muscle feathering violently in his jaw. "He tore your clothes in front of thirty people and told them to film it."
"And Delaney already broke his wrist in front of those same thirty people," Noel shot back. "He’s humiliated. Let the police handle him—or bankrupt him in a courtroom. Don't put another body on my conscience."
From the doorway, Delaney let out a short, humorless laugh. Both Ferraro siblings looked at her.
"Your sister has a good heart, Dante, which is why she doesn't understand predators like the Hollises," Delaney said, tossing Captain Miller’s confiscated police badge onto the coffee table. It spun across the wood and stopped in front of Dante. "Twenty minutes ago, Vance Hollis sent a corrupt precinct captain and two armed mercenaries into the alley behind the Meridian to put me in a body bag so they could cover Preston’s tracks."
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Dante’s eyes dropped to the gold badge. The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.
"You hear that, Noel?" Dante asked softly, picking up the badge. "I won't put a bullet in Preston Hollis tonight. I'll handle his father in a boardroom at nine o'clock sharp. Legally."
