The Principessa's Last Chicago Bet

Ten years ago, the Ventura family was overthrown, and I fled in a panic. Frank Toscano, a low-level Soldato, risked everything to protect me.

Ten years later, we had fought through blood and fire to seize control of both the criminal underworld and the legitimate world of Chicago.

I decided to step back from the life of bloodshed and violence, to build a real home with him and live a peaceful life.

But he brought home a girl in a white dress, doting on her with extreme care.

Under my stern questioning, he shielded the girl behind him.

“Sophia, I’ve been in the darkness for too long. I want to see a clean life.”

I sneered. The comfortable days had probably made him forget the path he took to get here, forgotten how he got to where he is today.

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1

I glanced at the trembling Ruby Harlow beside me and sneered, “I brought you out of the club, gave you a job, and this is how you repay me?”

Ruby Harlow dropped to her knees before me. “I’m sorry, Principessa, it’s all my fault. I’ll do anything to make it up…”

Frank Toscano’s face darkened. He rushed forward and helped her up.

The undisguised pity in his eyes was like a knife stabbing into my heart.

Ruby Harlow had once saved me by chance. Out of gratitude, I brought her out of a club in the slums and gave her a clerical position in the family’s casino.

I thought I was giving her a safe place to settle down.

I never expected that after only three months of me recuperating, she would become the rare ‘a clean life’ Frank spoke of.

I waved my hand impatiently, and several Soldatos immediately surrounded her.

“I’m not a philanthropist. Betrayers must pay the price.”

Frank shielded her behind him and laughed mockingly. “Sophia, you don’t seem to understand the situation. I’m not negotiating with you.”

His gaze swept over them, and my men flinched, not daring to step forward.

He was right. As my Underboss, Frank had amassed great power and influence over the years.

Aside from some old guards of the Ventura family, many had almost forgotten that I was the true head of this family.

“Frank,” I called out to him, “we can talk about things between us later. But you know the family’s Omertà, the rules.”

His face turned livid, looking utterly grim.

I said nothing, merely drew a dagger and threw it on the ground.

Clenching his jaw, Frank walked forward step by step,

picked up the knife,

and amidst Ruby Harlow’s screams, with a swift motion, severed the tendons in his own hand.

Blood pooled on the floor, staining my expensive carpet.

His voice trembled slightly, “Are you satisfied?”

Ruby Harlow was crying her eyes out beside him. She knelt by Frank’s side and glared at me. “Principessa, Frank just doesn’t love you anymore. Do you have to be so merciless?”

Frank wrapped his uninjured arm around her, pulling her into his embrace.

I looked at the ill-fated couple and swallowed the bitterness in my heart.

With Ruby Harlow’s help, he struggled to his feet and left me with a warning.

“Sophia, you won’t be on top forever.”

I gave a cold laugh and said to my assistant and bodyguard, Aria Donovan,

“Look into all the movements in Chicago over the past three months, and keep a close eye on Frank’s men. Also, call all of our people back.”