Chapter 2 - The Fire in the Night
The Moretti estate in Long Island was an opulent, gated fortress of marble, glass, and armed security patrols.
At three o'clock in the morning, Bianca Moretti sat in her lavish bedroom, sipping scotch from a crystal glass, her hand trembling slightly as she checked her encrypted phone.
Her father, Don Victor Moretti, sat across from her on a leather sofa, his face dark with rage.
"You idiot!" Victor hissed, slamming his glass onto the table. "Dominic canceled the engagement! He threw you out of his house like a dog! Do you have any idea what this does to our cartel alliance?!"
"It doesn't matter!" Bianca spat back, her eyes wild with desperate anger. "The old woman got lucky! That fat, useless maid jumped in front of her! But the poison was on the ring! The maid is probably dead by now, and Dominic will think it was a tragic accident!"
"Dominic Rossi is not a fool, Bianca!" Victor shouted, standing up. "He has the best forensic labs in the country! If he finds out—"
BOOM!
A concussive explosion shattered the silence of the night, shaking the entire estate so violently that the crystal chandelier crashed onto the hardwood floor!
The lights went out instantly, replaced by the flashing red glow of emergency alarms and the deafening sound of automatic gunfire erupting outside the mansion doors!
"What is that?!" Bianca screamed, dropping her glass.
The heavy mahogany doors of the study were blown off their hinges in a shower of splinters and smoke.
Through the fog stepped Dominic Rossi.
He wore a long black trench coat over his dark suit, carrying a heavy tactical rifle in his right hand. Behind him marched fifty elite Rossi enforcers clad in full ballistic armor, their weapons barking in synchronized, lethal bursts.
Victor Moretti reached for the pistol on his desk, but before his fingers could touch the steel, Dominic fired a single, precise round through Victor’s right wrist.
"AAAAGH!" Victor screamed, collapsing onto his knees, clutching his bleeding hand.
Bianca shrieked, backing against the wall, her hands raised in absolute terror. "Dominic! Please! It was a mistake! My father forced me to do it!"
Dominic walked forward slowly, his heavy boots crushing the glass shards on the floor. He paid no attention to Victor, stopping directly in front of Bianca.
"Your father didn't wear that ring, Bianca," Dominic said, his voice terrifyingly calm amid the smoke and gunfire echoing through the mansion. "You did."
He reached out, his iron grip clamping around her throat, lifting her several inches off the floor until her heels dangled helplessly against the wall.
"Dominic... please..." she choked out, her face turning purple, her manicured nails scratching uselessly against his leather-gloved hand. "She was just... a maid..."
"Her name is Skyler," Dominic corrected, his dark eyes burning with an ancient, unforgiving flame. "And the woman you called a 'clumsy cow' possesses more dignity, courage, and beauty in her pinky finger than your entire bloodline ever will."
He tossed her to the floor like a rag doll.
"Marco," Dominic called out without looking back.
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"Yes, Boss?"
"Seize every asset owned by the Moretti family," Dominic commanded smoothly. "Their docks, their bank accounts, their real estate. Lock Victor and Bianca in the subterranean holding cells beneath the Rossi manor. They will remain there until Skyler wakes up and decides their fate."
