He Let Me Bleed So I Let Him Go Chapter 06
The dinner was held on the second floor of the command center.
Seated along a great long table were De Luca district bosses, Ferraro representatives, and associates from out of state. Every seat represented territory and tribute.
The men were all in dark, severe suits. The women attending on behalf of their Families signaled their status with gowns, jewelry, and pins.
Elena was still in the sweater and slacks she had thrown on after leaving the clinic. She wore no makeup, and the gash on her temple was covered by a simple strip of gauze.
At some point, Bianca had changed into a floral gown, her hair redone, a string of Ferraro pearls at her throat.
She sat in the seat of honor, closest to Dante.
At this table, clothing and seating were a public declaration of power. By bringing Elena here completely unprepared, Bianca was making sure everyone saw it: the wife of the De Luca Don had already been cast out.
As if the thought had just struck her, Bianca slapped a hand to her forehead.
“Oh, this is all my fault. I completely forgot to have someone bring you a gown. Elena, you’re not upset with me, are you?”
Elena looked at her directly.
“You brought me here on purpose to be humiliated, didn’t you?”
Bianca clearly hadn’t expected such a blunt accusation. Her smile froze.
Almost immediately, her eyes reddened.
Dante, having overheard, came over from the head of the table. He stepped between them, shielding Bianca.
“You came without giving any notice. How was she supposed to prepare anything for you?”
“These are the men who decide if the De Luca family remains stable for the next year. This is not the place to be attacking the daughter of the Ferraro Don.”
Elena stared at him, incredulous.
Bianca had dragged her here.
And yet, somehow, she was the one jeopardizing the alliance.
Impatience was already seeping into Dante’s voice.
“Are you still angry about what she said at the club? If all you want is for everyone to acknowledge you, fine. I’ll take you around and introduce you.”
With that, he seized her wrist and pulled her toward the long table.
Someone handed her a glass out of courtesy.
Elena couldn’t drink alcohol, so she took soda water. After a few stilted pleasantries, she retreated to a corner.
She was about to leave when a scream cut through the room.
Dante had a man’s wrist locked in his grip.
With one savage twist, the man’s arm bent at an unnatural angle and dropped, useless, to his side.
Bianca stood nearby, her eyes red with tears.
“Dante, he just kept trying to make me drink. I’m fine. You should go be with Elena.”
Dante didn’t let go.
At a truce table, forcing the Ferraro Don’s daughter to drink was a probe for weakness, a test of both Families’ resolve. Crippling the man’s hand in front of everyone was Dante’s formal reply on behalf of the Ferraro family.
Standing just a few steps away, Elena suddenly remembered when they had first started dating.
Back then, there had been no contracts, no Families making decisions. She had married Dante for love.
Once, a group of drunk men had cornered her on the street, whistling and catcalling. When Dante arrived, he’d done nothing more than issue a cold warning before leading her away.
He had always been restrained.
But now, for the daughter of an ally, he was willing to draw blood at a formal dinner.
The guards quickly and quietly removed the disturbance.
Dante shielded Bianca as he led her from the table, but he stopped when he passed Elena.
“Did you do this on purpose?”
Elena didn’t understand.
“What?”
“You’re the Don’s wife. Tonight, your duty was to look after the female guests and our allies. You knew someone at a table like this might test her with alcohol, and all you cared about was hiding in a corner.”
“Bianca represents the Ferraro family. She isn’t sensitive to these power plays. If something happened to her on my territory, the truce would be broken.”
“I can’t watch you and watch her at the same time. Can you, for once, not make everything about you?”
Elena stared at him.
She had loved that face for a very long time.
The hard lines of it were the same as when she’d first met him.
But now, looking at him, she felt absolutely nothing.
“I never asked you to stay with me.”
“I didn’t even want to come here. Bianca forced me into the car. She knew this was a formal dinner and deliberately brought me here in clothes that would disgrace my position. She’s the one you should be questioning.”
Low murmurs rippled through the room.
Tears spilled down Bianca’s cheeks.
She collapsed into Dante’s arms, her shoulders trembling.
“Elena, how can you say that? You said you wanted to come. I even asked if you had a gown, and you told me not to worry about it.”
In an instant, Elena’s gaze went cold as ice.