Chapter 2 - The Paper Trail
Dominic stood up from the floor, holding the folded paper in his coat pocket. He looked at the guard, Marco, who was standing three feet away, looking unusually nervous.
"Get my car," Dominic commanded softly. "And tell the capos in the conference room that the meeting is rescheduled for midnight."
"Sir?" Marco gasped. "Capo Falcone flew in from Chicago just for this sit-down. He's been waiting—"
"Falcone can wait or he can fly back to Midway," Dominic cut him off without looking back. "Get the car. We're going to Queen's."
Dominic turned back to Lily. "Come on, kid."
Lily looked at his polished leather shoes, then up at his dark suit. "Are we going to see my mama?"
"We are," Dominic said, offering his hand—a hand that had never held a child's hand in his entire life. Lily looked at it for a second, then reached out her small fingers and wrapped them tightly around two of his fingers.
Ten minutes later, the armored black sedan was gliding down the Long Island Expressway toward an older, run-down section of Queens. Rain began to fall, tapping rhythmically against the tinted bulletproof glass. Lily sat in the leather back seat, munching silently on a bagel the driver had retrieved, her eyes wide as she looked out at the passing city lights.
Dominic had his tablet open on his lap, scrolling through the private database of Moretti Financial.
Elena Vance. Age 29. Hired three years ago as a mid-level forensic auditor. Stellar performance evaluations for thirty-five consecutive months. No disciplinary record. No late arrivals.
Then, three days ago: an immediate, high-priority system flag.
According to the internal log, Elena had accessed a encrypted off-shore account ledger labeled Project Anchor at 11:42 PM on a Tuesday night. Within two hours, her security badge was revoked, her severance package was canceled, and a legal non-disclosure order was dispatched to her apartment address.
Dominic's eyes hardened as he stared at the digital file.
Project Anchor was not an accounting file. It was the master registry of the Moretti family's laundered holdings across South America—a file that only three people in the world had access keys to: Dominic himself, his late father Enzo, and Paulie Rossano.
There was no way a mid-level auditor in Queens could stumble into Project Anchor by accident. Either Elena Vance was an unbelievably brilliant corporate spy working for an enemy syndicate... or she had been framed by someone inside his inner circle who needed a quick scapegoat.
"We are here, Boss," the driver announced, pulling the sedan up to a gray brick apartment building on 4th Street. The building had rusted fire escapes, flickering streetlight bulbs, and a cracked front stoop.
Dominic looked out the window. Sitting on the curb in front of the building was a beat-up yellow tow truck. Two burly men in heavy jackets were standing by the front door, shouting at a woman who stood on the top step, holding a cardboard box filled with clothes.
"Where is the rest of the rent, lady?" one of the men shouted, his voice carrying over the rain. "Landlord said if you don't have the twelve hundred by five o'clock, the lock gets changed and your stuff goes to the curb!"
"Please!" the woman wept, clutching the box to her chest. She was slender, with pale skin, dark circle under her eyes, and long blonde hair tied back in a loose, messy bun. She looked utterly exhausted, her shoulders shaking against the cold rain. "My daughter... my daughter is missing! I've been looking for her for three hours! Please, just give me until tomorrow!"
"Mama!" Lily screamed from the back seat of the car.
Before Dominic could stop her, the little girl kicked open the car door and bounded out into the freezing rain, her rain boots splashing through puddles as she sprinted toward the steps.
"Lily!" Elena dropped the cardboard box, her eyes opening wide in sheer, unadulterated relief. She dropped to her knees on the wet concrete, opening her arms as Lily threw herself into her lap. "Oh God! Lily! Where were you?! I was so scared! I called the police, I looked everywhere—"
"I went to see the boss, Mama!" Lily gasped out, pointing her small thumb back toward the sleek black sedan parked at the curb. "I asked him to give you your job back!"
Elena froze. Her head snapped up, her face draining of what little color it had left.
Dominic Moretti stepped out of the back of the car.
May you like
He opened a black umbrella with a sharp snap, stepping onto the wet sidewalk with the calm, terrifying elegance of a predator entering an arena. The two men who had been shouting at Elena instantly shut their mouths, their eyes widening in recognition as they took in Dominic's tailored coat, his silver pocket watch chain, and the three dark sedans that had just pulled up behind his car to block the street.
"Is there a problem here?" Dominic asked, his voice softer than the falling rain.
