The crystal chandelier at Il Destino vibrated. Not from an earthquake. Not from the subway rumbling beneath the Manhattan pavement. I

The battle at the Brooklyn docks was swift, decisive, and absolute.

Valenti’s mercenaries, realizing they were completely surrounded and outgunned, dropped their weapons within seconds. Don Valenti, trembling in the rain, dropped his gold-plated revolver into a puddle, falling to his knees.

"Please, Rico..." Valenti begged, his hands raised. "We can make a deal! Half my territory! Millions in Swiss accounts!"

Rico stood over the old mob boss, the rain streaming down his sharp jawline. "Six months ago, you took my wife. You tried to take my son. There are no deals for monsters who target children."

Rico raised his weapon.

BANG.

The threat that had hung over the Moretti family for years was eliminated in a single, final instant.

Rico turned slowly toward Lorenzo, who was clutching his bleeding shoulder on the wet pavement.

"Rico... please... we were brothers..." Lorenzo wheezed, sobbing in terror.

Rico looked down at his former capo with utter disgust. "Brothers don't sell children to wolves, Lorenzo. Dante!"

Dante stepped forward, handing Rico a heavy pair of zip-ties.

"Take him to the federal authorities," Rico ordered, shocking Dante.

"Boss?" Dante blinked in surprise. "You aren't killing him?"

"No," Rico said, stepping back, looking up at the gray New York sky as the rain began to clear, revealing faint streaks of sunlight through the storm clouds. "The violence ends today. Give the FBI all of Lorenzo’s ledgers, all of Valenti’s records. Clean the slate. We are shutting down the illegal operations."

Dante stared at him, then a slow, respectful smile spread across the giant soldier's face. "Understood, Boss."

Rico turned on his heel, walking away from the crime scene, pulling his phone from his pocket. He dialed the safehouse number.

On the second ring, Clara’s anxious voice answered: "Rico?! Are you okay?!"

"I'm okay, Clara," Rico said, his voice instantly softening, a genuine, warm smile breaking across his face for the first time in years. "It's over. The war is over."