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Dante knew that, in a way, he deserved this as he felt Squalo’s large hand push his head down, submerging him in the icy cold water of the lake. After all, he was the idiot who decided to follow Squalo and his step-brother’s Ghoul, Bianca, down here to the frozen lake, as if nothing could go wrong from that.
As if those two didn’t enjoy torturing him every chance they got.
As if both Squalo and Bianca hadn’t made it clear several times over that they would very much prefer it if Dante was dead and gone for good.
But for some stupid reason, he had held onto the thin strand of hope that Squalo was being legitimate when he said that he wanted to show Dante something out in the middle of the human-made lake the Giovannis had behind their estate.
Contrary to his mother and step-father’s beliefs, he didn’t want to resent his step-brother. In fact, he still found the idea of having a brother cool. He’d always wanted a sibling ever since he was young, and initially, Squalo had seemed cool to him.
Come on, the boy went by the Italian word for ‘shark,’ sharpened all of his teeth to a point to live up to that aesthetic, and dyed his hair. How alternative was that?
Dante had honestly been excited to meet Squalo and introduce him into his life.
It had been made clear very quickly though that Squalo hadn’t felt the same way about him. For a long while, Dante was convinced that Squalo had hated him at first sight. But now, Dante was confident that Squalo had despised him the moment he had heard of his very existence.
He was sure there were probably many complicated reasons for this, most of which probably stemmed from the fact Dante and his mother, Carlotta, weren’t “true” Giovani.
Through Antonio pulling some strings, they’d both been allowed into the family, but not without consequence. Both Antonio, and as a result, Squalo's position in the family got knocked down a peg or two with Dante and Carlotta being added to the family. That anger, mixed with the fact Squalo was just not a nice person in general was not a good combination.
Dante was sure that if Squalo could get away with messing with both him and his mother, he would. Dante didn’t miss the way Squalo glared at his mother when Carlotta interacted with him. But as much as Antonio let Squalo get away with murder (sometimes literally), Dante had no doubt Antonio would put his foot down if Squalo messed with his wife.
So, Squalo vented all of his energy on harassing the one Antonio gave considerably less of a shit about. That person being Dante himself.
Most of the time, it was just small examples of harassment.
For example, anytime Antonio or Carlotta wasn’t looking, the tormenting would begin. Well-aimed swings to the back of his head, kicks to his shin underneath the table, and generally hateful comments were common-course for Squalo. Stuff that was small, easy to hide, and made Dante look pathetic and petty for complaining about. Stuff that could easily be brushed aside as mere teasing or even accidents.
However, stuff would escalate beyond that point occasionally.
Like one night, when Dante found his room completely trashed, some of the stuff broken beyond repair by some mysterious person. Dante couldn’t prove without a shadow of a doubt that it was Squalo, and possibly Bianca as well, who ruined his room, but the smirks of amusement they had thrown his way when he reported his findings to one of the higher-ups had been pretty telling.
Being resistant to damage was nice under most circumstances. It certainly enabled him to do things he would’ve been otherwise too scared to do normally. However, it also had its downsides. Like when his step-brother decided to beat the living shit out of him until he was left groaning and coughing up blood, and yet he had no wounds or bruises to prove the abuse to Antonio.
The worst thing Squalo had ever done to him, however, was kill one of his friends.
Dante blamed himself a bit for it happening. After all, he should’ve known bringing up his human friends in front of his family was a dumb move. What did he think was going to happen? Squalo lived to torture him and others. Why had he assumed his friend would be excluded from that?
But for whatever reason, he had talked about this friend to his family.
Maybe he thought it was fine because he never mentioned anything other than the friend’s first name and a couple of their interests.
However, Squalo or Bianca must have gone the extra mile of following him and his friend one night to know who exactly he was talking about.
However Squalo managed to find who exactly he was talking about didn’t matter, because the result was the same. Dante received a call saying his friend had died. They’d been hit by a car. The suddenness of it all had shaken him to his core.
But after the initial shock wore off, Dante couldn’t help the suspicion that bloomed deep in his chest.
His friend hadn’t been reckless like him. In fact, his friend had been cautious and careful. Definitely not the type to walk out into the middle of the street when on-coming traffic was hurtling towards them.
Unless, of course, someone had intervened.
Now, Dante didn’t want to suspect Squalo of doing something so horrible. He didn’t have any proof really that Squalo had done anything. But he did know that Squalo had a habit of abusing his Dominate to make people do stupid things.
Dante could only imagine how easy it would be for Squalo to Mesmerize someone into walking into the street, right into an oncoming car. And once those thoughts got going, it was hard to stop them. Soon, in his mind, Squalo could be the only one responsible. Suddenly, every hushed laugh he heard Squalo and Bianca share soon after that incident had occurred, he couldn’t help but think it was directed towards him and his misery.
Of course, with no evidence to back up his claim, Dante couldn’t exactly accuse Squalo. Even if he did have proof, he doubted Antonio or any of the higher-ups would be exactly sympathetic about his dead human friend.
He ended up missing his friend’s funeral, as it had occurred during the day.
Dante didn’t know if that was a blessing or a curse. Of course, he wanted to say goodbye to his friend, but he didn’t know how he’d feel surrounded by crying and grieving relatives of said friends, knowing he was the one responsible for their misery.
He’d settled for visiting the grave with flowers in hand and to grieve in private. He remembered being glad he still hadn’t managed to learn how to see or hear ghosts. If he saw his friend as a ghost, he didn’t know what he would do.
He vowed right there and then not to mention his human friends to his family ever again. Not even to his mother, just in case she gossiped to the others.
This point was especially relevant because he recently met a really interesting girl named Stacey, and the idea of someone as funny, cute, and interesting as her meeting a similar fate was just depressing.
So, really, with all of this considered, when Squlao had said he wanted to show Dante something, he should’ve known it was a trap.
But this had felt different. Squalo hadn’t looked like his usual scheming self. He instead looked inviting and excited, like he’d actually seen something cool. Bianca even looked somewhat disappointed, as if she had tried to convince him not to bring Dante along, but he had refused.
Maybe Squalo was in a rare good mood for once, Dante thought. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to show Squalo he wasn’t bad to be around. Maybe they had simply gotten off on the wrong foot. Maybe this was the start of something beautiful.
So, despite what all common sense said, he went outside in the snow with the both of them.
When Squalo and Bianca had begun leading him towards the frozen lake, he of course had questioned it. However, when Squalo explained it had to do with fish, his doubts had cleared somewhat. That made sense at least.
So, he walked out onto the icy lake with them, struggling to keep his balance the whole time, as to not embarrass himself in front of the two of them.
He also worried that at any point he would go crashing through the ice, but it seemed thick enough to support all of their weights, so eventually, even those worries eased.
Eventually, Squalo stopped somewhere in the middle of the lake. Pointing down, he said, “Look, this dumbass fish got frozen in the lake.”
Dante looked over and, indeed, there was a fish frozen in the lake, its body in a strange position, as if it had tried to turn away at some point. Its immobile body was visible through the top layer of ice.
Slightly fascinated, Dante said, “Wow, I’ve never seen that in person. Only Internet videos.”
He idly wondered if the fish was dead, or in a state of chronostasis.
Squalo nodded and suddenly pulled off the duffel bag he was carrying with him. Unzipping it, he rummaged through it until he pulled out an ice pick.
Dante instinctually flinched back at the sight of the pointed object, his suspicions suddenly alighting again. That was certainly a strange object for Squalo to bring…
Squalo wasn’t planning on stabbing him with it, was he?
Squalo must have noticed his fear, because he rolled his eyes and said, “Don’t be such a pussy, Dante. I’m not planning on hurting you with this.”
Dante was so relieved he didn’t even feel offended at Squalo’s verbal jab. He instead cocked his head slightly and asked, “Then what did you bring it for?”
Squalo knelt down and violently stabbed the thick ice with the pick, saying, “I’m going to cut it out and see if we can dethaw it, cook it, and eat it.”
Dante wasn’t sure that plan would work out quite the way Squalo hoped it would. He didn’t even know what kind of fish it was, and he highly doubted Squalo did either. Would it even taste good? Would any family member even know how to prepare it?
He didn’t dare vocalize any of these questions out loud, however, knowing that it probably wasn’t a good idea.
Besides, who was he to be a killjoy to Squalo’s fun? He certainly didn’t like it when Antonio ruined his moments of excitement and fun. So, not following his step-father’s footsteps, he kept his mouth shut and watched as Squalo cut away.
Eventually, Squalo managed to cut away the chunk of ice and grab it, hauling it out of the water, leaving a giant open hole in its place.
Squalo set aside the ice-covered fish and nodded approvingly at his own handiwork.
Dante opened his mouth to congratulate him, when suddenly Squalo pointed at the hole he made and whispered excitedly, “Holy fuck! That is the biggest fish I’ve ever seen!”
Dante immediately padded up to see what Squalo was talking about.
That was all Squalo and Bianca needed.
Right before Dante’s eyes could register that there was nothing but empty water in the hole, a force hit him from behind.
Bianca had run up behind him and shoved him.
He tumbled a little, caught off-guard. He might’ve been able to right himself however if Squalo’s fist didn’t connect with the back of his head with such jarring force that he found himself seeing stars. Before he knew it, he was falling forwards to the hole.
His midsection splashed into the water, the sudden icy cold chill sending a shock through his system. He let out an involuntary gasp, and began desperately clutching at the ice that hadn’t shattered at his impact for dear life.
He immediately made moves to haul himself out of there, when he suddenly heard Squalo say, “Not so fast!”
Dante then felt a foot plant itself on his body, pushing him in the water. He tried to fight back, but he found himself slipping more and more into the water until he was completely submerged.
Dante had opened his mouth, whether to protest or shriek, he wasn’t sure, but he immediately regretted it as water immediately flooded in his mouth and got into his lungs.
He struggled and thrashed in the water for a bit, desperately trying to get back up to the surface. But it was useless. Squalo was keeping him down.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity to Dante, Squalo’s weight suddenly left him and Dante immediately took the opportunity to break the surface of the water, violently coughing to try and expel the liquid from his lungs.
He didn’t get to for very long however, before Squalo suddenly leaned down and grabbed a fistful of Dante’s soaked hair, pulling him painfully towards him.
“What do you think, Bianca? Think this family interloper has had enough for now?” Squalo asked, turning to look at his Ghoul.
Bianca smirked cruelly, and said, “Personally I think we should leave him at the bottom of the lake. See if anyone besides his pathetic mother will come looking for him.”
“Genius ideas as always, darling.” Squalo said with a wide, wicked grin. “And luckily, I brought just the item to do it, just in case Dante was enough of an idiot to follow us out here, which luckily he was.”
Then nodding towards Dante, he said, “Here, hold him down while I get it.”
That certainly didn’t sound good. So, the second Squalo let go of him to hand him to Bianca, he immediately made a move to escape.
Desperately trying to clamber his way out of the water, he only got about half of his body onto the ice before suddenly Squalo’s foot connected with his nose with a painful crack.
Dante felt back into the water with a slosh, one of his hands clutching at his broken and clearly bleeding nose as shockwaves of pain vibrated across his face.
He didn’t get to focus on the agony he was in for very long before Squalo was once again kneeling down and grabbing a fistful of his hair again, a cruel look of pure animosity on his face.
“I didn’t say you could move, now did I?” Squalo hissed.
Dante was debating whether or not to respond, when suddenly Squalo picked up the ice pick lying next to him and brought it dangerously close to one of Dante’s eyes.
Dante immediately tried to jerk back from it, but Squalo’s tight grip prevented him from moving.
“You know, I didn’t consider using this thing until you freaked out about it. But since you so kindly gave me the idea, maybe I should use it…” Squalo said, slowly and deliberately, sadistic pleasure dripping off every word.
Before Dante could pathetically plead for Squalo to reconsider, his stepbrother suddenly lowered the icepick and lunged forward, sticking Dante directly in the shoulder. Dante let out a cry of pain, his body involuntarily twitching at the sudden agony being inflicted upon it.
Squalo pulled it out roughly and waved the now blood-covered tool in front of Dante’s face, growling, “Try to run again and I will use this to gouge out your eyes and stab you as many times as I see fit. Same thing if you start screaming. Got it?”
Dante swallowed and nodded without a second thought. He knew Squalo would follow through on his threat. His step-brother murdered people casually- rather brutally too. Dante couldn’t see torture being very beneath Squalo, especially if he got to torture someone he very clearly hated.
So Dante just waded in the freezing cold water, holding deathly still as Squalo walked towards his duffel bag. That still didn’t stop Bianca from holding onto him though, probably just in case he was daring enough to actually try something.
He watched with growing despair as Squalo pulled out a good-sized cinderblock and some rope out of the bag.
He had watched enough stereotypical mafia movies to know what was about to happen next.
As Squalo approached, that wicked smile was on his face again, as he said, “Let’s play a game, shall we? We’ll leave you down here and see how long it takes for anyone to even notice you’re gone. A couple of minutes? Hours? Days? Months even?”
“Implying anyone but his mother is going to go looking for his stupid ass,” Bianca pointed out with a cruel giggle.
“Dad might just to keep the bitch happy,” Squalo pointed out, a hint of annoyance in his tone. Clearly he noticed how much Antonio was willing to bend to Carlotta’s will.
As the two chatted, Dante’s mind was ablaze with panic.
Were they really going to sink him at the bottom of this lake?
Sure it wasn’t like he was going to drown or anything. Vampires didn’t need to breathe, fortunately. But still, even with that little fact in mind, he was beginning to wonder if the fate Squalo was going to try and leave him in was a fate worse than death.
Just stuck at the bottom of the lake for God knows how long, completely alone. Sure, he didn’t need to breathe, but water was inevitably going to get in his lungs, which would cause the sensation of drowning and he would just be stuck there having to endure it.
And Squalo and Bianca were right. Who knew how long it’d be before any of his family members besides his mother and maybe Antonio would even notice his absence, much less go looking for him, especially if Squalo and Bianca fed them some excuse like he had gone out to hang out with someone.
Would either of them even think to check the lake? His family barely even paid it any mind. He could be trapped there forever.
He would starve. Could vampires starve to death? He couldn’t remember if Antonio or any of his other family members had taught him that. They probably hadn’t taught him it at all, since there was always blood available. Would he die or something weird happen?
What if he didn’t have to worry about starving at all? Beams of sunlight could reach through water, couldn’t they? Maybe he would slowly disintegrate before starvation could even have a chance to set in.
The idea of dying like that was depressing and scary.
The idea of leaving his mother forever wondering where he went and what happened to him was extra depressing.
Part of him considered taking his chances with Squalo torturing him if it meant his screams might be heard by the other Giovanni members…
But then another idea came to Dante. It wasn’t a great idea but it was better than nothing.
So, before he could think too much on it, he forced himself to duck under the water, forcing Bianca's arm down with him a bit. Even under the water, he heard her gasp at the sudden cold and felt her release her hold on him.
He could also hear Squalo’s feet thumping on the ice as he hurried over.
Luckily, Dante could predict what was about to happen next and moved back a bit as suddenly, a hand shot into the water, with the clear intention of grabbing onto him.
Dante made a move to swim away. If he could get far enough away and hang out underwater for long enough, then perhaps Bianca and Squalo would get bored and go back to the estate.
It was his best shot.
But things went wrong for him very quickly.
As he attempted to swim away, he felt Squalo’s hand suddenly grab onto one of his legs in a tight grip.
He found himself involuntarily opening his mouth in shock and fear, quickly regretting it as once again, water flooded in. He felt Squalo trying to drag him up by his leg, and he thrashed violently, desperately trying to free himself.
With the feeling of drowning overwhelming him and the knowledge of what Squalo would do to him if he dragged back up to the surface, Dante was panicked , needless to say. Especially since, no matter how hard Dante wriggled, Squalo wasn’t letting go. It was like he was literally caught in a trap.
Dante was attempting to try and take off his pants, in the hope that would help him in wiggling loose, when suddenly he was jerked up violently, his body becoming disoriented as he was suddenly upside down under the water.
He found himself eventually pulled out of the water and onto the ice, disoriented.
Before he could even vomit out the water he inhaled or beg for mercy, Squalo grabbed onto him and said. “You’re going to regret that.”
A flash of terror shot through Dante as he coughed up the water, his body tensing as he braced himself for whatever torture Squalo had in store for him.
But amidst his heaves, he heard a voice say, “That’s enough.”
At first, Dante thought he had imagined it, until he heard Squalo demand, “What are you doing here?”
Turning his head slightly, he saw a woman approaching them, an unreadable expression on her face. It took his waterlogged brain a second to place a name to her face, his mind slowly running through all of the many possible family members she could be. As she got closer though, he soon recognized her.
Her name was Isabella and she was one of his many cousins… probably. Honestly he had given up trying to figure out the family tree a long time ago.
Dante barely knew her really. He only really ever saw her at family gatherings and dinner, but even then, the two of them had never really spoken to each other.
He probably should’ve. The two of them were in the same boat, being half-Giovanni and all. She was talked about by the other family members with a similar level of derision they showed him and Carlotta.
She arguably got it a bit less than him, as unlike him and Carlotta, who got in purely from Antonio pulling a few strings and talking up the right people, she actually earned her place in the family.
From what he understood, she was incredibly calculating, smart, and business-savvy. She knew the ropes better than some Giovanni members who’d been with the family their whole lives.
Her addition to the family was said by some to be an asset, really. Something that needed to happen. That she would be one of the few to actually bring greatness back to the Giovanni name.
Dante didn’t know if all of that was true, but it certainly made her more liked than him. He was considered a dead weight really in the family. Even Carlotta had found her place in the family. Dante had yet to do that, really.
Maybe how well Isabella melded into the family made Dante more wary around her. If she really fit like a glove with most of the family, then he could just naturally assume she didn’t like him much either.
Add that with just how intimidating she was naturally, and she was certainly… hard to approach. Her face was always cool and collected, and Dante got the feeling she was looking straight into his soul whenever she looked at him, as if she could glean every weakness of his just by looking at him.
Then, there was that thrall of hers. Hugo, he remembered.
It was commonplace for someone in the Giovanni Clan to have a Ghoul or two. Hell, Squalo had one in Bianca, and Dante would be lying if he said he hadn’t considered making one himself. But thralls… thralls were different.
Thralls were slightly more uncomfortable.
Normal Ghouls were one thing. It was easy for a vampire to manage a human. Even if a Ghoul decided to cause trouble, they were easy to get rid of.
Thralls were different in that way. Much different. They were Kindred, which means they held much more power and potential danger, should they decide to go rogue. They knew the politics of Kindred society, and they were much more powerful than the average human Ghoul, which meant they could put up more of a fight should they be confronted.
Therefore, thralls were a little more looked down upon by Giovanni society. They weren’t exactly banned per se, which was why Isabella still had Hugo, but they definitely made some of the family members antsy.
One look at Hugo made Dante understand where that nervousness stemmed from. For one thing, unlike Ghouls like Bianca, Hugo clearly held no love or loyalty to the Giovanni Clan. In fact, given the looks of pure hate Hugo gave every member of the family - including Isabella - it was clear he would be happy to see every single one of them dead.
This fact made many family members reluctant to talk politics or strategy when he was around - afraid that, if he went rogue, he would end up getting the family hurt.
Besides, to many Giovanni family members, a lowly Gangrel such as Hugo had no place in hearing family affairs.
Dante had learned the hard way when he had dated Phoenix that his family looked down on every Clan that wasn’t theirs.
But while they may look down on Hugo, Dante suspected that members of his family feared Hugo as well. All it took was one look at the Gangrel to know he was tough and experienced.
That strength sometimes showed in the activities Hugo participated in.
Occasionally, the family would play a casual game of American football outside. If Isabella ordered Hugo to play and represent her team… none of the other family members seemed to stand a chance against the hulking mass of a man. He would just knock them all to the ground, pin them with ease, and outrun them with impressive speed.
Even Squalo didn’t seem to be able to compete with Hugo, and Squalo’s strength was nothing to sneeze at.
It didn’t take a genius to realize that if Hugo were to ever go rogue, he wouldn’t be an easy foe to take down.
Hell, Hugo didn’t even need to rebel really. If Isabella decided to use Hugo on a family member to try and usurp power, there probably wasn’t much their division could do to stop her. They really only had the ‘Giovanni family loyalty’ clause on their side, which Dante discovered through his Uncle Mario’s untimely death, was tenuous at best.
Dante certainly feared Isabella quite a bit himself. He didn’t know what Hugo had done, but vampires didn’t get themselves indebted to people they hated unless they had good reason to. And Isabella had somehow figured out how to make the Gangrel her pawn. She was obviously cunning, if not powerful.
That fear was the main reason he avoided her.
Plus, he figured if he wanted to ingratiate himself to his family, hanging around another half-Giovanni probably wasn’t the best way to go about it.
But now, she might as well be a guardian angel walking towards him. A ray of light in the midst of this despair.
If Isabella was at all intimidated by Squalo’s menacing tone, she certainly didn’t show it. Instead, she just coolly said, “I could be asking you the same question. I also only think it's appropriate to ask what you are doing with Dante there as well?”
“Help me,” Dante croaked, his throat aching.
Squalo and Bianca glared at him, and Dante was sure if Isabella wasn’t there, they would’ve hit him. In fact, he was surprised they hadn’t, even with Isabella standing there watching them.
Isabella arched an expectant eyebrow at Squalo.
Squalo snapped, “It’s none of your business, half-blood! Leave us alone!”
Without blinking, Isabella took a step forward and said, “Actually I think it is my business, seeing as you’re hurting someone from our family.”
Squalo snorted at her words. “He isn’t family. Neither are you. The both of you are just pathetic leeches that the higher-ups for some reason haven’t found the need to remove.”
Dante cringed a little at Squalo’s harsh words. He wasn’t really surprised Squalo felt that way… but was that how Antonio and some of the other family members thought of him? That he was nothing more than a parasite leeching off of the family? That idea saddened him somewhat.
Isabella didn’t seem all that fazed however. She just sighed, as if Squalo was being annoying, and said, “You can debate the validity of whether Dante and I count as family all you want. However, I do know one person who definitely isn’t a part of the Giovanni family, and that’s her.”
She nodded at Bianca, who looked caught off-guard and confused at being acknowledged. Dante assumed she was used to being somewhat of a background piece to most of the other Giovanni members.
Squalo also looked somewhat confused, as he demanded, “Yeah? So? What point are you trying to get at?”
Isabella said, “Since she is definitely not a part of our family, I don’t think the other members would be very approving of her hurting someone who is.”
Squalo’s eyes narrowed, “Are you implying that you’re going to snitch on us?”
Isabella shrugged, “Not about this. I have a feeling if I did, it wouldn’t get anywhere. You are in a high enough position that me reporting this infraction would just end with you getting a slap on the wrist. Even if I tried to take your Ghoul down, you have the defense that she was just following your orders, as every Ghoul should.”
Squalo didn’t say anything. Instead, he just maintained a suspicious gaze at Isabella. Dante didn’t blame him. Isabella was clearly plotting something. The only question was what.
Isabella continued, “But unfortunately for her, I have evidence that would seem to suggest that she had a hand in Mario Giovanni’s death.”
Dante was surprised to hear that. Everyone knew that Mario’s death had been a collaborative effort amongst many parties. Sure, Angelo had ultimately been the one to put poison in Mario’s food, but everyone seemed to instinctively know that he never would have done it unless someone - or maybe even a group - had put him up to it. Angelo was conniving, but he wasn’t really a go-getter.
However, try as they might, no one could get Angelo to fess up any names. He seemed deadset that he acted completely on his own.
Dante had his own suspicions on who was involved however, and Bianca had been up there. Sure, she had never dared to speak out against him, but Dante knew for a fact that the Ghoul didn’t particularly care for Mario.
Mario had seemingly caught a whiff of the fact that Squalo and Bianca were acting more than friendly with one another, and had expressed his distaste by verbally attacking Bianca alone.
Again, Bianca never spoke out against Mario. She couldn’t, even if she wanted to. But Dante hadn’t missed the glares the girl shot his uncle whenever she thought no one was looking. He hadn’t failed to miss the flickers of hatred in her eyes when Mario snapped at her.
It only made sense to him that Bianca might want Mario gone, but he’d never been able to dig up evidence on her and had been somewhat paranoid that he only thought she was involved because he didn’t care for her much himself.
But now, it seemed Isabella had dirt on her.
“You’re bluffing,” Squalo immediately accused. “If you had this evidence, you would’ve given it to the family already.”
Squalo sounded fairly confident, but Dante noticed that Bianca didn’t seem so sure. She shifted uncomfortably, wasn’t making eye contact, and didn’t say a word of defense towards herself.
“Would I have?” Isabella asked, arching an eyebrow. “Mario really was of no concern to me. In fact, if I am to be quite blunt, I didn’t particularly care for him at all or his overt-flirtations.”
Dante frowned at the sound of that. Dante had been ultimately neutral towards his uncle, but even he knew that the man had been pushy with women. Normally, his mother was the target, but he knew Mario would hit on other women in the family as well. Apparently he had also turned his attention on Isabella.
His thought-process was interrupted when Isabella said, “However, whatever my feelings on Mario were, if someone is conspiring to take down family members, then of course my interest would be piqued. Especially when someone as insignificant as a Ghoul was not so subtly bragging about Mario’s death when she thought she was alone with Angelo.”
Bianca shifted uncomfortably again, and Squalo was beginning to lose face.
“Now… the family might be able to forgive Angelo for his slight. They might even forgive me for withholding this information. We are Giovanni, after all. But a Ghoul? That won’t be allowed to stand.” She paused for effect, before saying, “And I assure you, should they find out her death will be painful.”
“I get it,” Squalo suddenly gritted out. Giving Isabella a look of pure hatred, his fists clenched to his sides, he asked, “What are you wanting?”
Isabella actually smiled a little at that, saying, “I’m glad you are being cooperative about this, Squalo.” Then returning her face to its neutral look, she nodded to Dante and said, “First of all, you both could let go of him.”
Squalo and Bianca backed away from him immediately. Dante eyed the two of them warily, unsure if they were being serious.
“Get out of there, cousin,” Isabella said, crooking her finger at him like he was an animal she was trying to lure over.
Obediently, Dante pulled himself up to his feet and shakily staggered over towards her, his body numb. When he finally got to her side, he dared to glance back at Squalo and Bianca.
He immediately regretted doing so, as the two of them were glaring at him with the hatred of a thousand suns. Dante couldn’t tell who they hated more right now, him or Isabella.
Isabella didn’t seem shaken by this. Nodding, she said, “I appreciate you being so cooperative, Squalo.” Then face hardening, she said, “However for future reference, I strongly recommend that neither of you harm Dante or any other family members while I am around, unless you want to face Hugo and I’s wrath.”
With her threat ringing clear, she then took a step back and gestured towards the estate, saying, “You may return now.”
For a moment, Dante thought Squalo wasn’t going to cooperate. He saw the way Squalo’s fists clenched and unclenched, how set his jaw was. Dante feared for a moment that Squalo was actually going to lunge at Isabella. If he did, would Isabella be alright? Isabella was no doubt powerful, but so was Squalo… the idea of them fighting made him nervous. He highly doubted he would be much help to Isabella in the current state he was in.
But finally, Squalo spat out a, “Whatever…” and began collecting his things. Once he had everything gathered, he walked right past Isabella and Dante without sparing either of them a glance.
Bianca slowly followed behind, but Dante didn’t miss the nervous glance she shot Isabella’s way, before she too eventually walked away.
Dante waited until the two of them were a good distance away before looking at Isabella gratefully.
Dipping his head, he said, “Thank you so much, Isabella. I owe you one.”
His voice was shaky and stammery as he said those words. Whether that was because he was bitterly cold all over or because he was intimidated by her, he didn’t know.
It was probably both.
Isabella looked at him and crossed her arms, saying, “You definitely do owe me, cousin. Don’t worry though, I’ll figure out what exactly you owe soon enough.”
Dante chuckled a little at that. Squalo and some of the other family members could insist all they wanted that Isabella wasn’t really a part of the family, but the immediate extortion attempt showed she was fitting in even better than him.
Isabella must have found his sudden laughing strange, as she gave him a weird look. Cocking her head, she said, “You really are a strange one, cousin.”
Dante once again chuckled, saying, “I’ve heard that one before.”
Then blinking at her, he asked the question that was floating in his mind, “Why did you end up saving me?”
He hoped she got his meaning.
After all, she certainly hadn’t had to. Sure, there was a certain level of loyalty in the Giovanni, but that loyalty certainly had caveats to it.
Dante was fairly lower-ranked in the family’s hierarchy. Him being a vampire placed him above the Giovanni who weren’t, and being connected to Antonio scraped him a few extra points of goodwill… but it still wasn’t much.
Him being half-Giovanni would probably always hinder his place in the ranks for the rest of his Afterlife, and his inability to assimilate and uncouth ways only separated him all the more.
And being lower in the ranks certainly did affect things.
For example, if he and Squalo were hanging off a cliff, the family would no doubt save Squalo before they would him, because Squalo was considered a bigger asset to the family.
If Squalo had succeeded in murdering Dante and it had been discovered by the family that he had done it, Squalo would probably have to face consequences, sure, but his high-ranking would cushion the punishment quite a bit.
Meanwhile, if Dante had attempted anything close to what Squalo did with someone higher-ranking than him, he risked being banished or even executed for his crime.
It was not an even or very ethical system of justice, but it was simply the way his family did things. He had learned to accept it.
And within such a biased society, players had to choose their moves carefully.
Squalo was a high-ranking individual in the family. People tended to want to please him. Being friendly with him meant one could reap some benefits. Having such a high-ranking friend could help one’s own rank go up higher with time.
It didn’t take a genius to see that Isabella wanted to climb up that very hierarchy.
So why? Why piss off someone as high-ranking as his step-brother in order to save someone as worthless as Dante? It wasn’t like they were particularly close. Dante was too cowardly to even approach her normally!
Her lack of emotion about Mario’s death showed that she wasn’t undyingly loyal to every Giovanni member, which just confused Dante all the more on why she did what she did. It didn’t make any sense from a logistical or strategical standpoint.
Isabella was silent for a couple of moments, her eyes locked on him. Dante tried not to shift uncomfortably under the intensity of her gaze. He wondered for a moment if she was wondering the same thing. Maybe she regretted helping him out at all.
Finally, she shrugged and said, “I guess because I feel a certain strange kinship with you, with both of us being half-Giovanni and all. If I allowed them to do that to you one night, what’s to stop them from doing the same thing to me some other night?”
Then, giving him a faint smile, she said, “Besides, you looked so pathetic I couldn’t help but take pity. It’s like seeing a baby rabbit being kicked around. You can’t help but feel a little bad…”
Dante knew he probably should’ve been offended at her words, but instead, he grinned and found himself teasing back, “Aw, who knew you had a heart in there, cousin? You better be careful. If the others find out about that sentimentality of yours, you might drop in the ranks a bit.”
Isabella rolled her eyes. Then, nudging him lightly, she urged, “Come on, let’s get you in to dry off before you actually freeze on the ice here.”
Dante nodded and followed her obediently.
He didn’t know why, but he had the feeling this was the start of a beautiful friendship.