Betrayed at the Altar, I Married a Powerful Rival novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Valentina's Fall

Gianna's POV

The shot hit Federico in the upper arm, and he did not make a sound.

He sat down hard in my chair with his hand clamped over the sleeve.

Blood ran between his fingers onto the white cloth.

Ruggeri was still holding the gun, with a look on his face that said he had not expected to miss.

Then Dario's father came down the length of the table.

He took Ruggeri around the waist and drove him against the sideboard, and the gun skittered across the floor.

Two of the chairman's men fell on them both.

It was over in the time it took me to breathe.

"Federico," I said.

"It's through." His face was grey, and his voice was perfectly dry. "Don't fuss. Look at the chairman."

I looked.

The chairman had risen to his full height.

"Mr. Ruggeri," he said. "You have drawn a weapon at a peace table, on a pregnant woman, in front of the Commission.

"There is no ruling I need to think about."

The elder who had gone to the garage came back in with a flashlight in his hand and his sleeve smeared with grease.

"It's there," he said. "An old Lincoln, under a tarp. A different color under the repaint. The bumper was never replaced."

Nobody spoke.

"The Ruggeri docks are forfeit to the Orsini house against three years of unpaid tribute," the chairman said. "Mr. Ruggeri is stripped of his seat and his name on the Commission's roll. His men will lay down their weapons in this house tonight.

"What the Family does with him afterward is the Family's business."

Ruggeri was on his knees between two guards, with his silver mustache torn and his shirt open at the collar.

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