Chapter 1 The Dept
The smell of antiseptic clung to Isabella Romano’s clothes as she left the hospital, exhaustion weighing down her every step. Her mother’s room had been quiet tonight. Machines beeped steadily.
“She needs another round of treatment soon,” the doctor reminded her, her voice clipped with sympathy. “And you know… time matters.”
Yes, Isabella knew. She counted every dollar twice, cut corners on her own meals, picked up every shift she could at the cafe, all to keep her mother alive.
But when she walked into their cramped apartment that night, she knew something was wrong before Marco even opened his mouth.
Her brother was pacing round the house like a trapped animal, running his fingers through his messy hair. Empty bottles clinked on the counter.
“Marco?” she asked, her voice sharp with suspicion. “Where were you? Mum asked for you all evening.”
He froze, guilt flashing across his face. “I-I meant to go, Izzy. But listen, don’t be mad. I’ve got it under control.” he stammered
Her stomach sank. “What did you do?” She questioned him furiously.
Marco rubbed his face with both hands, groaning. “I just… I borrowed some money, okay? Just until next week. I had a good hand, I was winning”
“No.” Isabella screamed. “Tell me you’re not back at the tables, Marco. Tell me you didn’t gamble again.” She retorted angrily.
Her knees nearly gave out. She gripped the edge of the table to steady herself. “Do you even understand what you’ve done? Mum is in the hospital, clinging to life, and you, you’re out there throwing money away we don’t have?” her voice clipped with pain.
“I was trying to fix it!” he shouted back, desperation raw in his voice. “One win, Izzy, and I could’ve covered the bills, covered everything. I thought I could-”
While he was talking a knock disrupted him, sharp and deliberate against the apartment door. Isabella froze on the spot.
“Marco,” she whispered, “who did you talk to this time?”
Before he could answer, the door rattled. Another knock louder, harder.
Her stomach twisted, she knew something was wrong.
The third knock wasn’t a knock at all. It was a boom. The door swung open with brutal force, the cheap chain lock snapping clean off.
Three tall men in black suit filled the frame. Their presence seemed to eat the air out of the room. And between them, stepping in as though he owned the very ground he walked on, was a man Isabella had only ever heard about in whispers.
Dante Moretti.
The king of New York’s most feared mafia empire.
He wasn’t what she expected. No heavyset, cigar-smoking caricature of crime. No. He was lean muscle in a tailored black suit, his dark hair slicked back, his jawline cut from stone. His eyes cold, merciless, swept the room like a blade.
Marco went pale. “D–Dante… I, I was going to get the money”
“Were you?” The mafia king’s voice was low, sharp and commanding. He stepped forward, each movement precise. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you were drinking it away.”
Isabella’s throat tightened. She stepped between them instinctively, though her hands trembled against her sides. “Please, he, he’s just made mistakes. You don’t have to-”
Dante’s eyes snapped to her. For a heartbeat, she couldn’t breathe. It was like being pinned under the weight of a predator’s stare, something primal and inevitable.
“And who,” he asked softly but dangerously, “are you?”
She swallowed. “I’m his sister. Isabella.”
The silence that followed was heavier. Dante’s gaze lingered, tracing her features, her fear, the way she stood her ground even as her brother cowered. Something unreadable flickered in his expression before it was gone.
He turned back to Marco. “You owe me seventy-five thousand dollars. You had one month. You’ve wasted it.” he spat out.
Marco replied, fear evident in his eyes. “I just need more time. Please, I’ll get it, I swear.”
Dante’s lips curved, not a smile, something darker. “Time is a luxury men like you don’t deserve. And I don’t gamble with liars.”
One of his men stepped forward, pulling a pistol from under his jacket.
Isabella’s pulse slammed in her ears. “No!” she cried. “Please, you can’t! If you kill him, it’ll destroy our mother. She’s in the hospital, she’s fighting to stay alive, if she loses him, it’ll kill her. Please. Take anything else, but not my brother.”
The room froze.
Dante studied her in silence, head tilting slightly, as though she were a puzzle no one had dared to hand him before.
“Anything else you say?” he echoed.
Her breath hitched. “Yes.”she replied instantly.
The room tightened around her. His men glanced at one another, but no one spoke. Only Dante.
Finally, he took a step closer, close enough that Isabella caught the faint scent of smoke and spice clinging to him. His hand lifted slow, deliberate and with one finger, he tilted her chin upward, forcing her eyes to meet his.
Her skin burned under the touch.
“You,” he said, his voice quiet but sharp enough to cut. “You’ll do.”
Her lips parted, confusion and dread tangling in her chest. “What, what do you mean?”
“I’ll take your brother’s life…” His finger traced away, leaving a shiver in its wake. “…or I’ll take yours. Not in death, Isabella.”
She blinked, not understanding.
Dante’s gaze was merciless. “Marco walks free tonight. You, however, belong to me. Your time, your choices, your life. Consider it payment.”
Her world tilted. Her mother’s pale face flashed before her eyes. If Marco died here tonight, her mother wouldn’t survive it. The shock, the grief, it would finish her. But who will watch over her mother and pay her bills.
“You can’t,” Marco rasped, his voice weak. “Not her, I will pay”
Dante’s men silenced him with a sharp shove back into the couch.
“That’s not a choice,” She muttered, panic clawing through her ribs.
“It’s the only choice you have,” Dante countered smoothly. “Your brother dies here, tonight… or you come with me.”
Isabella’s mind screamed NO. Every instinct told her to run, to fight, to throw herself out the window if she had to. But then she had to protect Marco, her mum.
She had spent her whole life protecting her family, carrying him, saving him from himself.
“And maybe this was the price but what about their mother.” Isabella thought to herself.
Tears stung her eyes as she whispered, “I’ll go.”
Dante’s lips twitched with something darker, “Good girl.”
He turned on his heel, already certain she’d follow. His men moved like shadows, preparing to leave.
Isabella stood frozen, her entire body trembling. She glanced once at Marco, sobbing into his hands. She thought of her mother, alone in her hospital bed, waiting for children who might never come.
And yet one thought burned through the terror, sharp and relentless:
What exactly does it mean to belong to Dante Moretti?
