I sat in the dark of my walk-in closet, the glow of my tablet illuminating my face. On the screen, a grainy black-and-white video played. It was a live feed from the hidden camera I had installed in Tavio's study.
"I can't believe she fired me!" Carina shrieked. "After everything I've done! I've been covering for you for years, Tavio! I've been feeding you inside information! And she just... cuts me off like a dead limb?"
"Calm down," Tavio said, pouring himself a drink. "She's unstable. The miscarriage messed with her head more than we thought. It's just a tantrum."
"A tantrum?" Carina laughed. "She locked me out of the communications network, Tavio! She revoked my access to the Family's front operations! I can't even get into the social club to delete the files! If she finds the dummy accounts... and what if she already knows about us?"
"She won't," Tavio assured her, walking over to wrap his arms around her. "If she does, surely she will not sit tight, and confront me."
"I want her dead," Carina sobbed into his chest. "I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of pretending to be her friend. I want her gone, Tavio. Now."
"It's okay, baby," Tavio cooed, stroking her hair. "We're close."
"When?" Carina demanded, pulling back to look at him.
"The Family Feast," Tavio said. His hand moved to his tie, smoothing it with a slow downward stroke from knot to sternum. "Next Friday. It's the perfect stage. She'll be surrounded by the Commission, the press, every Boss in the Northeast. I've already planted the seeds about her mental instability. We'll stage a breakdown. A public, undeniable psychotic break. I'll have the doctors ready to commit her that night. Once she's in the facility, I get power of attorney by default."
"And then," Tavio kissed her forehead, "she'll be ruined. And I'll get everything. The Family, the estate, the empire. And you."
They kissed. It was hungry and desperate, a celebration of my impending destruction.
I turned off the tablet, my hand trembling slightly.
My phone buzzed in my lap. It was Arturo.
"Everything is ready, Madam," Arturo's gravelly voice came through. "The offshore accounts are active. The domestic holdings have been liquidated and transferred. The estate deed has been moved to the blind trust. The separation papers are drafted and ready for filing."
"Good," I breathed. "And the forensic accounting on Carina's operations?"
"Complete. We have evidence of embezzlement, infiltration, and fraud. It's enough to put both of them away for twenty years."
"Hold onto it," I said. "I want to drop the hammer when it hurts the most."
"And your departure, Madam? When will you leave?"
"A few days," I said, glancing at the closed closet door. "Prepare the lake house. The one my parents gave me for my twenty-first birthday. It's off the grid. Tavio doesn't even know it exists."
"It will be ready. Be careful, Ambra."
"I will."
I hung up and took a deep breath.
I walked downstairs. Tavio was in the living room, nursing a scotch. He looked up as I entered, his face instantly composing itself into a mask of concern.
"Hey," he said softly. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," I lied. "I'm sorry about dinner. I just... I snapped."
"It's okay," Tavio said, standing up. "But Ambra... we need to talk about Carina."
"There's nothing to talk about," I said, walking past him to the kitchen. "She's out."
"She has nowhere to go," Tavio pleaded, following me. "She's been living in the guest house because she can't afford a place in the city. Her cut from the Family was her only income. If you fire her and kick her out... she'll be on the street."
"She should have thought of that before she became incompetent," I said, pouring myself a glass of water.
"She's your blood-sister!" Tavio argued. "She's been there for you through everything! The funeral, the wedding... she loves you, Ambra. You're punishing her for trying to help."
"I'm protecting my Family," I shot back. "And frankly, Tavio, I don't care where she goes."
Tavio opened his mouth to argue, but his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and frowned.
"It's the hospital," he said, answering it. "Hello? Yes, this is Tavio Nero. Who? Carina?"
I watched him. His face went pale. He looked at me with wide, accusing eyes.
"Oh my god," he whispered. "Is she... okay? We're on our way."
He hung up, his hand shaking.
"Carina is in the ER," Tavio said, his voice trembling with manufactured outrage. "She tried to kill herself. She took a bottle of pills."
I felt a cold knot in my stomach. It was a move. A desperate, manipulative move to force my hand.
"This is on you," Tavio spat, pointing a finger at me. "You pushed her to this! You fired her, you humiliated her, and now she's lying in a hospital bed because she felt like she had nothing left!"
We drove to the hospital in silence. When we arrived, Carina was awake, looking pale and fragile in the hospital bed. Her wrist was bandaged — a hesitation mark, I noted. Enough for attention, not enough for death.
"Ambra," she croaked when she saw me. Tears filled her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I just... I didn't know what else to do."
Tavio stood by her side, holding her hand. The nurses looked at me with thinly veiled judgment. I could hear the whispers in the hallway.
The narrative was already spinning. If I didn't act now, I would be the villain before the Feast even started.
"I'm so sorry, Carina," I said, my voice thick with emotion. "I didn't know you were struggling this much. I was just... I was projecting my own pain onto you."
"It's okay," Carina sniffled. She tucked her hair behind her left ear with a quick, almost nervous motion. "I just want my friend back."
"You have her," I said, taking her other hand. "And you have a home. You can't stay in the guest house alone. It's too isolated."
Tavio looked up, surprised. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying she should move into the main house," I said, looking Tavio dead in the eye. "With us. Until she gets back on her feet. I'll reinstate her in the Family's operations, too. On probation."
"Really?" Carina asked. "You'd do that?"
"Of course," I smiled. It was the warmest, most loving smile I could muster. "We're famiglia, aren't we? Families stick together."
"Thank you, Ambra," Tavio said, squeezing my shoulder. "You're doing the right thing."
"I know," I said.
But as I walked out of the hospital room to get some air my smile remained.
In just a few days, they will be ruined.
