Chapter 7: A vote of trust

Ana
The hours following my uncle Marco's revelation were a torment. I didn't know how to feel about it. The image of Dante, the man I had trusted, was crumbling before my eyes.
The evidence was irrefutable, or so I thought. Something inside me wanted to hold on to hope, so finally, I decided to give Dante a chance to explain himself.
I met him in a secluded place, where no one would bother us. As expected, he arrived on time, his eyes full of concern.
"Ana," there was something different in his gaze, even in his tone of voice. He knew I had found him out. "I need you to listen to me."
I looked into his eyes, not knowing what to expect.
"Speak because I don't have all the time."
Dante told me a story full of lies and half-truths. He was a double agent, yes, but he didn't work for Paolo Di Marco. His real mission was to infiltrate Paolo's organization and dismantle it from within.
"And it's clear that with my help you would achieve your goal, right?"
"You're not just a pawn in this game, Ana, you're the queen of the board, the most important piece of all, that's why I have to protect you."
"I was doing just fine before you showed up with your protection. How do I fit into all this?"
I could feel Dante's desperation to give me an explanation that sounded coherent. I had a lot of doubts, but I wanted to take a chance this time to believe that, no matter what he said, I would trust him to tell the truth.
"Paolo's agents killed my parents. It's a long story, but they wanted to protect you."
"I didn't even know them."
"But your grandfather did. My parents knew that the only person who could make a difference was you. They were convinced that you could lead the Italian mafia in an exceptional way, so the killings in these territories would stop. You would make a difference."
"But you know well that I don't want to be a part of this dirty business."
"Getting your hands dirty with blood can be necessary sometimes in order to achieve a greater good."
Every word he said only confused me more. I had hundreds of doubts and I know that none of them could be cleared up at this moment. He showed me the evidence my uncle had found to discredit Dante, all of it was fake, fabricated by Paolo with the intention of keeping him away from me.
At first, I didn't believe him. It was too hard to accept that everything I thought I knew about him was a lie, but Dante presented me with irrefutable evidence. Encrypted messages, photos, videos... everything pointed to one thing: Dante was innocent and everything he said was true. I felt guilty for doubting him, I had judged him without giving him a chance to defend himself.
I apologized to him, my heart heavy, and as always Dante looked at me with an understanding smile.
"I understand," he said. "I would have done the same thing too. We don't know each other well enough yet, it was logical that you had doubts."
"I come from a family where lies are often a constant, I'm sorry that affected our relationship" I closed my eyes immediately regretting what I had said. "I'm sorry, I don't..."
"Don't worry," he interrupted with a smile. "Our relationship is a phrase that sounds very good."
"We won't waste time on this now, we have to tell my uncle what's going on before he alerts all the guards that he wants your head for dinner."
"I don't think he's capable of that much."
"You don't know Marco Salvatore."
The rest happened quickly, just as it should have. Marco listened to us in silence, his face serious and thoughtful. In the end, he accepted the truth. He didn't apologize for having judged Dante so hastily, on the contrary, he said that's what a good leader does, analyze whether you can really trust the people who work for him.
The three of us together, devised a plan to unmask Paolo Di Marco and finally end this absurd war.
"Defeating Paolo won't be easy, Ana."
Dante took my hand in his, his eyes filled with determination.
"But together, we can do anything."
I looked into his eyes and felt a surge of confidence course through my veins. I knew Dante was right. Together, we could overcome anything.
"I know, Dante," I said with a firm voice. "And I'm not going to let you down."
"A few years ago we were just kids you scolded for cutting the roses in the garden, uncle."
"And I don't know when you grew up so much, but your absence from Paolo's life I assure you has had negative consequences, he hasn't been the same since you... well, broke up."
"I see you had a strong relationship," Dante mentioned somewhat uncomfortably.
"Actually, we never got to formalize anything, it was a fleeting love between two foolish young people and that's it, that topic is not relevant."
I didn't want to look at Dante at that moment, but I could feel his gaze fixed on me.
"I think it's a good plan," I liked the strategy we had come up with, it could work, although the process didn't quite fascinate me.
"Entering the wolf's den won't be easy, my dear."
"I know, uncle, but it's necessary if we want to finish off Paolo, Italy can only have one leader and it has to be me."
We would use the evidence Dante had gathered to destroy Paolo Di Marco. It wouldn't be easy, but we were determined to do it.
My uncle left and a few hours later, when he returned, he brought with him a man who looked quite beaten up. I didn't understand what was going on.
Dante, Marco and I were in Marco's office, watching the man in front of us. He was a middle-aged man with gray hair and an arrogant look.
His name was Enrico, and he was a member of the board of directors, he worked with us, so that confused me even more.
"Uncle, do you want to explain to us what's going on here?"
"This garbage," he pointed to the man, "Was found hidden in the warehouse, trying to destroy the evidence we had gathered to frame Paolo, I found it interesting, so I wanted to bring him in to talk peacefully."
"After almost beating him to death," Dante pointed out.
"I wanted to have some fun first."
Enrico looked at us with a mixture of fear and hatred.
"You have nothing to prove," he said in a trembling voice.
Marco smiled ironically.
"Oh, yes we do," he said, and showed Enrico a folder full of documents.
They were irrefutable evidence that Enrico was a double agent working for Paolo Di Marco.
The man was speechless, his face turned pale and his eyes filled with terror. He knew we had him trapped and that this would be his end.
Marco approached Enrico with a firm step.
"Tell me the truth," he said in a harsh voice. "Who hired you?"
Enrico swallowed hard, visibly terrified.
"Paolo Di Marco," he whispered. "He paid me to infiltrate the mafia and destroy you."
Marco banged his fist on the table in fury.
"Damn you!" he shouted. "You won't get away with this!"
I approached Enrico and looked him in the eyes.
"You've messed with the wrong person," I said firmly. "I'm going to make you pay for what you've done."
At that moment, we made a decision, we were not going to hand Enrico over to the police, Paolo Di Marco had too many resources and could buy his freedom.
No, we were going to do justice ourselves, that's why we took Enrico to a secluded place, where no one would bother us, and there, we interrogated him. We asked him everything we knew about Paolo Di Marco.
Enrico, terrified of the consequences of his actions, told us everything he knew. He revealed Paolo Di Marco's plans, his collaborators, his weaknesses. This was invaluable information that we could use to destroy him.
When we finished the interrogation, Enrico was a defeated man, he knew his life was over. We left him tied up in a warehouse, where no one would find him.
His fate was in our hands and we were not going to show mercy. The adrenaline was still pumping through my veins after what we had been through. Marco had left, leaving us alone in the hallway. I approached Dante not knowing quite what to do.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I shouldn't have doubted you."
Dante took my hand and lifted my chin so that I was looking into his eyes.
"It's okay," he said softly. "I understand that it was hard for you to believe the truth."
We stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, the tension between us palpable. I could feel the heat of his body so close to mine, a burning desire that coursed through me, a feeling I had never experienced before.
Without a second thought, I leaned in and kissed him. At first, the kiss was soft and exploratory, but soon it became more passionate, more intense. His hands slid down my waist and pulled me closer to him, I tangled my fingers in his hair and let myself be carried away by the passion of the moment.
The kiss was a mixture of need and desire, as if we had both been waiting for this moment for a long time. Finally, we pulled apart, panting and with eyes full of desire.
Dante looked at me with a mischievous grin.
"Did you like it?" he asked in a husky voice.
"Depends, do you think you did it well?"
Dante leaned in again and kissed me, this time with more intensity.
"I don't know, you tell me." At that moment, I knew that things between us would never be the same again. "Something tells me that the fact that you came into my life is going to complicate things a lot, Ana."
"And does that bother you?" I asked, still breathing heavily.
"Not at all. I love a challenge."
We had crossed a line and there was no turning back.