Blood and Bonds

CHAPTER 10: The Chateau’s Challenge

El Amore's estate sprawled across twenty acres of French countryside, a fortress disguised as a chateau. Santino counted four security checkpoints before the car even reached the main gate. Guards with military precision. Cameras disguised as decorative elements. Dogs that watched too carefully to be pets.

"Nervous?" Salvatore asked beside him.

"Cautious." Santino straightened his new suit bought that morning at Salvatore's insistence. "You could have told me she was his daughter."

"Would you have believed me?" Salvatore laughed. "Besides, Mia prefers to introduce herself. Make her own judgments."

"And what was her judgment of me?"

"You'll find out soon enough." The car stopped before marble steps leading to massive oak doors. No one opened them. No servants waited. Just silence and the weight of unseen eyes.

"We go alone from here," Salvatore said, exiting the car. "Remember to speak only when spoken to. Answer honestly. He knows when you lie."

"I don't lie."

"Everyone lies, brother." Salvatore straightened his tie. "The trick is knowing when it matters."

They climbed the steps together. The doors opened inward without a sound. The entrance hall beyond was cavernous marble floors, Renaissance paintings, a chandelier that could kill a man if it fell. Old money, old power.

A butler appeared, silent as a ghost. "This way, gentlemen."

They followed through corridors that spoke of centuries, past doors that remained closed, into a study where a fire crackled despite the warm evening. The room smelled of leather, cognac, and cigarettes.

El Amore sat behind a desk of polished ebony, his face in shadow. Mia stood at his shoulder, her red dress exchanged for a black suit that matched her father's. Family resemblance was evident in the set of their jaws, the stillness of their posture.

"Santino Leandro." El Amore's voice was surprisingly soft. "Son of Leone. At last."

Santino inclined his head but said nothing.

"Sit." El Amore gestured to a chair. "Salvatore, leave us."

Salvatore actually bowed and backed out of the room. The doors closed with a finality that made Santino's pulse quicken.

"Drink?" El Amore offered.

"No, thank you."

"Smart. Never cloud your judgment in unfamiliar territory." El Amore leaned forward, his face catching the firelight. He was older than Santino expected, mid-sixties, white hair, skin like parchment. But his eyes were sharp, calculating. "You don't look like your father."

"You knew him?"

"I know everyone worth knowing." El Amore steepled his fingers. "Your father was a tool. Useful but limited. You, I suspect, are something more."

Mia moved to the fire, her shadow elongating across the floor. "I told you, Father. He has potential."

"Potential is worthless without proof." El Amore opened a drawer, removed a small package wrapped in brown paper. "This is yours to deliver."

Santino didn't move to take it. "What is it?"

"Your test." El Amore smiled thinly. "A package to be delivered to the address inside. Tonight. Alone."

"And what does it contain?"

"Curiosity. Good." El Amore pushed the package forward. "It contains opportunity, Santino Leandro. Or destruction. Depending on how you handle it."

Santino took the package. It was lighter than expected. And beneath his fingers, he felt a subtle vibration ticking.

"The rules are simple," El Amore continued. "Deliver the package by midnight. Do not open it. Do not fail."

"And if I refuse?" El Amore's smile widened. "Then the package stays here. And so do you."

Santino weighed his options, none was  good. Run? Guards everywhere. Fight? Suicide. Comply? Dangerous.

"What's inside?" he asked again.

"Trust is earned, not given." El Amore stood. "You want to join our family? Prove your worth."

"I never said I wanted to join."

"Yet here you stand." El Amore gestured to the door. "Mia will see you out. The car is waiting." Mia approached, her heels silent on the thick carpet. "I told you he'd do it, Father." 

"We shall see." El Amore turned his back to a dismissal.

Santino followed Mia from the room, the package heavy in his hand despite its lightness. In the corridor, she stopped, turning to face him. "Don't disappoint me," she whispered, close enough that only he could hear. "I've placed a bet on you."

"What's in the package?" he asked one more time. She smiled, a curve of red lips in the dim light. "Your future."

Outside, the car waited, engine running. Santino slid into the back seat, the package on his lap. As the gates closed behind him, he felt the vibration again. Beneath his fingers, something inside the package continued its steady, mechanical ticking.

Like a clock Or a bomb.