The Don’s Consigliere Charged Me By The Minute To Touch Him Chapter 03
On Donna’s Knees
[Elena’s POV]
Three days later, I got out of bed and went home to grab a change of clothes.
The second I pushed the door open, a violent force slammed me against the wall.
I lost my footing. The impact sent a sharp, searing pain ripping through the incision on my abdomen.
Dante’s voice crashed down like ice. “Valentina told me everything. You used your mother’s so-called emergency to demand a million dollars for surgery. She turned you down, so you told her to drop dead and sell herself. Tell me — without that million, did your mother die?”
Very slowly, I turned my head.
I stared at him. At this man — ready to tear me apart over the lies of a woman who’d faked every word.
My mother could barely speak anymore, and still she thought about making his favorite food.
And here he was, the cold Don, cursing her to die.
The pain was like a blade dipped in poison, flaying me inch by inch until I couldn’t feel anything at all.
Beside him, Valentina let out a long, dramatical sigh. “Boss, forget it. For the part she cursed me — I can take it. But demanding a million dollars just like that? You work so hard for this family, and she just drains you dry. I feel bad for you, Boss. Maybe I should just quit. I’m clearly in her way. Who knows — one day she might actually have me whacked.”
I stared at her performance.
I could still hear her voice on the phone. Every vile word she spat about my dying mother.
I laughed coldly. “Go ahead. Check the phone records. I dare you.”
“…Donna!” Valentina’s voice went shrill. “I already let it go when you humiliated me — why are you still coming after me? Fine. Fine! I can’t compete with the Donna. I’ll scrape together every penny I have and give you your million if that’s what it takes — just please, leave me alone!”
Tears streaming, she made a show of opening her banking app.
Dante grabbed her wrist.
He looked up at me. The coldness in his eyes could have drawn blood. “Elena, have I been too good to you? Made you forget what you actually are?”
A bank card hit me in the face.
One look at it and every drop of blood in my body ran cold.
It was the card I kept in my nightstand drawer. The one with my mother’s surgery fund.
“Valentina looked into it. You’re suspected of moving family money into a private account. It’s been frozen.”
The color drained from my face. “You can’t do this — that money is for Mom’s surgery! Her heart really can’t wait —”
“Enough!” Dante scoffed. “I pay millions a year for a private medical team on the family’s payroll to take care of your mother. Her surgery could wait another year and she’d be fine. If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable.”
I stood there, frozen.
Private medical team…?
If he’d visited the hospital even once, he would have known — there was no medical team at all!
I grabbed his arm. Tears poured out before I could stop them. “Dante, I’m begging you. I don’t want anything else. Just give me back that money. Please.”
He looked down at my ashen face. Something flickered in his eyes — a crack, barely visible. “Fine. Apologize to our consigliere. Once she forgives you, I’ll unfreeze it.”
The taste of blood filled my throat.
I thought of my mother curled beneath her blanket, body bent double in pain, biting back every sound because she didn’t want me to worry.
I closed my eyes. “…I’m sorry.”
Valentina tilted her head, wide-eyed. “What was that, Donna? I didn’t quite catch it.”
My jaw tightened. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I was greedy. I was shameless. Please — forgive me.”
She crossed her arms and smiled lazily. “Donna, the emotional damage is severe. Just flapping your lips isn’t going to cut it. How about this — get on your knees and slap yourself. Punish yourself for running your mouth. When I’m satisfied, your card gets unfrozen.”
I looked up at Dante.
This man — the man who once beat a capo bloody at a sit-down because the guy shoved me — stood there like a stranger. Detached. Unmoved.
“Lena, that’s it. Valentina works harder for this family than anyone. This is for your own good.”