Chapter 16 - The Punishment
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When they emerged from the bunker, the Perry estate was scarred but victorious.
The grand ballroom was a mess of broken crystal and bullet holes, but Marco’s men were already moving bodies and scrubbing the floors. The Falcone syndicate’s bold assassination attempt had failed spectacularly, and in the mafia world, failure meant absolute destruction.
Leandro’s arm was professionally bandaged by an underground doctor, and he immediately went to work.
He summoned the surviving Falcone lieutenants to the basement holding cells. He didn't yell. He simply promised them that if they did not surrender their East Side shipping ports to the Perry family by sunrise, he would burn their entire bloodline to the ground. They surrendered within five minutes.
Then, Leandro turned his attention to his sister.
Stella was locked in a cold, concrete cell in the sub-basement. Her designer gown was ruined, her hair a tangled mess. When Leandro and Nevaeh walked into the cell, Stella scrambled backward against the wall.
“Leandro, please!” Stella sobbed, her arrogance completely shattered. “I’m your blood! You can't kill me!”
Leandro stared down at the woman he had protected his entire life.
“You sold my life to our enemies for fifty million dollars, Stella,” Leandro said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. “You lost the right to call me blood.”
“What are you going to do to me?” she whimpered.
“I am sending you away,” Leandro stated coldly. “You are being banished to a convent in rural Italy controlled by our associates. You will have no money, no phone, no designer clothes. You will scrub floors on your knees for the rest of your natural life.”
Stella gasped in absolute horror. “No! I’d rather be dead! I can't live like a peasant!”
Nevaeh stepped forward, looking down at the heiress who had poured ice water on her just a month ago.
“You’ll learn, Stella,” Nevaeh said softly, a dark sense of poetic justice settling in her chest. “It builds character.”
Leandro nodded to his guards. “Put her on the plane. If she tries to run, shoot her in the leg.”
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As they dragged a screaming, thrashing Stella out of the basement, Leandro turned to Nevaeh.
“The house is finally clean,” he whispered.
