Chapter 3 - A Father's Grief
The graveyard was cold, a biting wind sweeping off the East River. I stood at a distance, shrouded in the shadows of an ancient oak tree, watching as the small white casket was lowered into the earth. Mateo Vasquez, Elena’s father, looked like a hollow shell. He was a proud man, a hardworking chef who had fallen on hard times, forced to borrow money from my family to keep his restaurant afloat.
Now, he had lost the only thing that mattered.
Bruno sat by my side, perfectly still, his gaze fixed on the grieving father. I reached down and rested my hand on the dog’s broad head. "You knew, didn't you, buddy?" I whispered. "You smelled the guilt on him."
As the few attendees began to disperse, I signaled Tony to wait by the cars. I walked slowly toward the fresh grave. Mateo didn't notice me until I was standing right beside him. When he looked up, his eyes were red, swollen, and utterly dead.
"Mr. Rossi," he muttered, using my civilian name. He tried to straighten his posture, a reflex of fear and respect. "I... I don't have the money this week. With the funeral, and Elena..."
It broke my heart. This man was burying his daughter, and his first thought upon seeing me was the debt he owed my criminal empire.
"Mateo," I said gently, reaching into my overcoat. I pulled out the ledger book I carried, the one that held the debts of a hundred desperate people. I found his page, struck a lighter, and set the corner of the paper on fire. I let it burn until it was ashes, dropping it onto the damp grass.
"The debt is gone," I told him. "Your restaurant is yours. Clear and free."
Mateo stared at the ashes, confusion battling with his grief. "Why? You are a businessman. You don't forgive forty-two thousand dollars out of pity."
"It's not pity," I said, my voice hardening. "It's a down payment on a promise."
I looked down at the dirt covering the coffin. "I know who did this, Mateo. I know who was driving the car that hit your little girl."
Mateo's breath hitched. A sudden, terrifying fire ignited in his dead eyes. "Who? The police said they had no leads. No cameras. Nothing. Who was it?"
"It was one of my men," I confessed, the words tasting like poison in my mouth. "He was involved in something he shouldn't have been. Elena was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She saw him."
Mateo lunged at me. It wasn't a calculated attack; it was pure, unadulterated parental rage. He grabbed my lapels, shaking me. My men rushed forward from the cars, pulling their weapons, but I raised a hand sharply, stopping them in their tracks.
"Let him!" I barked.
Mateo pushed me back, sobbing uncontrollably. "You killed her! Your filthy world killed my baby! You monster!"
I stood there and took it. I let him scream, let him hit my chest until his knuckles bled. I deserved every bit of it. My empire, my choices, had created the environment that led to Elena’s death.
May you like
When he finally collapsed to his knees, exhausted and broken, I knelt beside him. "You are right. My world killed her. And my world will pay the price. The man who drove the car will not see tomorrow's sunrise. But it goes deeper than him. The people he was dealing with... they are the root of this."
I looked Mateo dead in the eye. "I am going to burn their empire to the ground. For Elena."
