LUCA’S TRAINING & ISABELLE’S FALL
PART ONE: THE ARRANGEMENT
10:16 AM — Federal Courthouse, Lower Manhattan
Isabelle Dumont sat in the defendant’s chair wearing a dress that cost more than most people’s annual salary, and it didn’t matter. The silk couldn’t hide the trembling in her hands. The designer couldn’t purchase her way out of federal conspiracy charges.
The prosecutor was laying out the evidence: her communications with Vincent. Her agreement to help him locate and discredit Aria. Her participation in the plan to separate Dante from his child. Her coordination with Council operatives to undermine the Russo Moretti merger.
She’d made a calculation, two months ago, that had seemed strategic at the time.
Vincent had offered her a simple trade: help him eliminate Aria, and he’d e
