Chapter 7 - Shadows of the Past
Two months passed.
The transition at Moretti Holdings was seamless. Under Elena's brilliant direction, the family's financial network was completely restructured, closing illegal loopholes and converting shady offshore assets into legitimate, high-yielding investments that brought in millions in legal revenue.
For the first time in thirty years, the Moretti syndicate was becoming an untouchable corporate empire.
Dominic spent less time in dark backrooms and more time on the fifty-second floor. He found excuses to visit Elena's office three times a day—sometimes bringing a coffee, sometimes bringing a new toy for Lily, who had taken to calling him "Uncle Dom."
To the hardened soldiers of the Long Island estate, seeing their feared Don playing hide-and-seek behind leather sofas with a five-year-old girl was nothing short of a miracle.
But in the world of organized crime, peace is always a fragile illusion.
On a rainy Tuesday evening in April, Dominic sat in his private study at the Long Island mansion, reviewing dock manifest reports.
The heavy wooden door opened, and Marco stepped in, his face grim.
"Boss," Marco said quietly. "We have a problem."
Dominic didn't look up from his papers. "Speak."
"Paulie died in the medical wing of the facility in New Jersey an hour ago," Marco reported. "Heart failure. But before he passed, his doctor found a encrypted satellite phone hidden inside his mattress."
Dominic slowly laid his pen down. "Who did he call?"
"A number in Palermo, Sicily," Marco said, leaning forward. "He called Don Donato Falcone—the head of the Sicilian Syndicate. He sent them the full files on Elena Vance and her daughter three days ago."
Dominic's blood turned to ice.
Donato Falcone was not a local American boss. He was an old-world tyrant—a ruthless, brutal mafia kingpin who had been fighting the Moretti family for control of the Atlantic shipping lines for three decades. Falcone was a man who believed in total eradication: if you couldn't beat an enemy on the battlefield, you destroyed their family.
"What did Paulie tell him?" Dominic demanded, his voice dropping into a lethal whisper.
"Paulie told Falcone that Elena is the key to your entire empire now," Marco revealed, his voice shaking slightly. "He told him that if Falcone takes Elena and the kid, the Moretti family will crumble overnight."
Dominic stood up from his desk, his eyes burning with a terrifying, apocalyptic rage. He reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a heavy black tactical holster, and strapped it across his chest.
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"Where is Donato Falcone right now?" Dominic asked.
"Our informants say he landed at JFK two hours ago on a private jet," Marco answered. "He brought twelve hitmen with him. Boss... they aren't coming for the docks. They're heading for the Manhattan skyscraper right now."
