The high tables

Mafian Trust

His eyes softened slightly, though there was still that edge of cold calculation behind them. “Because if this war happens, neither of our families will survive it.”

I felt an unease at his words, but I quickly pushed it down, burying it beneath my anger. I wasn’t about to let Gabriel Rossi, of all people, lecture me about survival.

Surely, he knows that if anyone is to blame, it's our families, Our fathers, and others who built Ember, and now I am giving lectures that Ember is trying to destroy us. That's low, Rossi, even for you.

“I don’t need your help to protect my family,” I spat. “And I sure as hell don’t need you to tell me how to run things.”

His jaw tightened, but his voice remained calm. “This isn’t about running things, Isabella. It’s about survival. For both of us.”

I stepped forward, my chin raised. “Don’t patronize me, Gabriel. You think you can just waltz in here, spout some nonsense about a ‘common enemy,’ and I’ll fall in line? You must think I’m stupid.”

He shook his head, his expression serious. “I don’t think you’re stupid. I think you’re smarter than most people in your family. That’s why I came to you.”

His words hit harder than I expected, but I didn’t let it show. Instead, I clenched my fists, the anger popping just beneath the surface. “You think flattery is going to get you anywhere with me? I’m not one of your sycophants, Gabriel. I don’t bend to anyone.”

“I’m not asking you to bend,” he said softly, taking yet another step closer. “I’m asking you to listen.”

He keeps reading me like an open book

For a moment, we stood there, inches apart, the tension between us thick enough to cut with a knife. I could feel his eyes on me, studying me, waiting for my next move. He was trying to get under my skin, to make me second guess myself. And I hated that it was working.

But I wasn’t about to let him see that.

“There’s no peace between us, Gabriel,” I said, my voice cold as ice. “Not now, not ever. If you think for one second that I’m going to join forces with you, then you’re even more delusional than I thought.”

His expression didn’t change, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes—something that might have been a disappointment. “So you’d rather watch both our families burn?”

I smirked, though it didn’t reach my eyes. “If that’s what it takes.”

He didn’t respond right away, just stood there, watching me with those damn unreadable eyes. For a moment, I thought he might try to argue, to convince me that he was right, but instead, he just sighed softly.

“You’re just like your father,” he said quietly. “Stubborn. Unwilling to see the bigger picture.”

My blood boiled at the comparison. “Don’t you dare compare me to him?”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by my outburst. “Why? Because you think you’re different? You think you’re better?”

I opened my mouth to snap back, but the words caught in my throat. He wasn’t wrong. I had spent my entire life trying to prove that I wasn’t just like my father, that I could be better, smarter, stronger. But in the end, we were both playing the same game. And that realization stung more than I cared to admit.

Gabriel must have seen the hesitation in my eyes because he pressed on. “You can’t win this fight alone, Isabella. Not this time.”

I swallowed hard, my mind racing. Part of me wanted to walk away, to leave him standing there on that pier and never look back. But another part of me—the part that had been trained to survive at all costs—knew that he was right. If what he was saying was true, if there was a bigger threat looming on the horizon, then I couldn’t afford to ignore it.

But that didn’t mean I had to trust him.

“I’ll think about it,” I said finally, my voice low and measured.

Gabriel nodded, his

The sound of my boots striking the wooden planks of the pier echoed into the night as I left Gabriel standing alone at the edge of the water. The cold breeze rushed against my face, carrying the salty scent of the sea, but I barely noticed it. My mind was too busy, too choked with thoughts of everything Gabriel had said. Every word of his smooth, calm voice replayed in my head, and I hated how it stayed there rent-free like an annoying song.

I had told him I’d think about it, but I already knew the answer. There was no peace between our families. Not now, not ever. Whatever game Gabriel thought he was playing, I wasn’t about to fall for it. The Rossi family was our enemy, and that would never change. No matter how calm and rational he seemed, I knew better than to trust him. Trust, in our world, was a currency more valuable than money, and Gabriel Rossi was the last person I’d gamble it on.

I reached my car, the black Maserati parked under the shadow of a shipping container, and slid into the driver’s seat. The engine purred to life as I pulled away from the docks, my hands gripping the wheel tightly. I needed to clear my head. But even as I drove through the quiet streets of Naples, Gabriel’s words wouldn’t leave me alone.

"You’re just like your father," he’d said.

Those words had cut deeper than I’d expected. My father, Matteo De Luca, was a man feared and respected in equal measure. He had built our empire with blood and iron, crushing anyone who stood in his way. I’d grown up watching him make impossible decisions, decisions that I knew weighed heavily on him but never showed on his face. The cold, calculating leader is unwavering. I had inherited that from him. But was I just like him?