Chapter 10 - THE NEW ORDER
An hour later, the private dining room at Bellori was quiet once more.
The sixteen Vitiello relatives and lieutenants had been dismissed under strict orders of total silence, leaving only Mateo, Don Salvatore, and Tessa in the warm amber light of the crystal chandeliers.
Tessa had removed her lace maid's headpiece and white apron, setting them gently on the mahogany chair. She wore her simple black dress, her auburn hair flowing freely over her shoulders, the completed gold signet ring resting safely around her neck inside her silver locket.
A private luxury sedan sat waiting in the alleyway behind Bellori, its high-powered engine idling softly in the Chicago cold.
Mateo walked beside Tessa down the private carpeted corridor leading to the rear exit. He carried her small canvas bag over his shoulder, his fitted charcoal suit jacket wrapped around her shoulders to shield her from the winter draft.
"Where are you taking me?" Tessa asked softly, looking up at his sharp profile.
"To my estate in Gold Coast," Mateo answered smoothly, opening the heavy reinforced door for her. "It's secure, quiet, and far away from anyone who might ask questions."
He stopped at the threshold, looking down into her green eyes with a warmth that transformed his formidable face into something gentle and fierce.
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"You are safe now, Tessa," Mateo promised, his baritone voice deep and absolute. "No one in this city will ever look past you again."
Tessa looked out at the falling snow over Chicago, took a deep breath of the crisp night air, and stepped into the warm leather interior of the luxury sedan—leaving the shadow of invisibility behind, stepping into the light of a new, powerful destiny alongside the heir of the Vitiello empire.
