Chapter 5 - The Shattered Stained Glass
Panic was an instantaneous, ugly beast. The elegant crowd of mafiosi and their wives erupted into screams, chairs scraping against the stone floor as men reached into their formal wear for weapons they weren't supposed to be carrying.
"Down!" Dominic roared, his voice cutting through the chaos like a foghorn. In a single, fluid motion, he threw his body over Elena, slamming her down onto the marble steps of the altar, using his massive frame as a human shield.
Marcus and four undercover security guards immediately formed a defensive wall around them, their submachine guns drawn from beneath their long formal coats.
From the shattered choir loft, a figure appeared, silhouetted against the bright afternoon sky. It wasn't an army; it was a single man, holding a high-caliber rifle, his face twisted into a mask of manic fury. It was Enzo Valenti.
"Russo!" Enzo screamed, his voice cracking with madness. "You think you can take our docks? You think you can build a clean house on our blood? Your family dies today!"
Before Enzo could bring the rifle to bear on the altar, a muffled thud echoed from the bell tower above the chapel. A single, high-velocity bullet from Dominic’s counter-sniper team struck Enzo directly in the chest. The young Valenti stepped backward, his eyes wide with shock, his rifle slipping from his fingers as he fell backward through the broken window, tumbling twenty feet down onto the stone courtyard below.
Silence descended on the chapel, thick and suffocating, broken only by the sound of heavy rain that wasn't there—it was just the tinkling of falling glass shards settling onto the floor.
Dominic slowly raised his head, his gray eyes scanning the room, checking the perimeter before he allowed Elena to move. "Are you hurt?" he whispered, his hands sweeping over her shoulders, checking for blood or glass.
"I'm fine," Elena gasped, her face white, her dress covered in dust from the altar steps. "The girls... where are the girls?"
Dominic stood up, pulling her with him. In the front pew, Nora had thrown herself over Mia and Valentina, while Lucia stood in front of them, holding a heavy brass candleholder she had grabbed from the rail, her little face pale but defiant.
"We're here, Papa!" Lucia called out, her voice trembling but intact.
Dominic let out a long breath, the tension leaving his shoulders as he looked toward the back of the room. Marcus walked back into the sanctuary, his weapon lowered, his expression grim. He looked at Dominic and gave a single, firm nod. The threat is neutralized.
The guests were beginning to recover, the men smoothing their jackets, their faces dark with anger at the breach of protocol. An attack on a wedding was a violation of the old code—an unforgivable sin that demanded an absolute response.
Vittorio Valenti’s eldest capo, an old man named Santino, stepped forward from the middle aisle. He looked at the blood on the glass near the back door, then turned to face Dominic.
"This wasn't the family’s choice, Russo," Santino said, his hands held open to show he was unarmed. "Enzo was mad. His father couldn't control him. The Valenti family does not support this... this sacrilege."
Dominic stepped down from the altar, his boots crunching on the glass shards. He stood before the old capo, his presence so imposing the older man involuntarily took a step back.
"Tell Vittorio," Dominic said, his voice dropping into a register that made the candles on the altar flicker. "That his son’s blood is on his hands, not mine. And tell him that by sunrise tomorrow, every asset the Valenti family owns in the state of New York belongs to the Russo name. If he objects... I will come to Chicago myself to hear his complaint."
Santino bowed his head. "I will deliver the message."
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Dominic turned back to the altar, where Elena stood waiting, her veil torn, her dress dusty, but her eyes steady and clear. He walked back to her, taking her hand once more. He looked at the priest, who was trembling behind the altar.
"Continue," Dominic ordered gently. "We have a wedding to finish."
