Chapter 6 - Wolves at the Gates
Across town, in the basement of an unmarked warehouse near the Chicago shipping docks, another meeting was taking place.
Marco Cassani, the head of the rival syndicate that had spent a decade trying to dethrone the Moretti family, leaned back in a battered leather chair, watching a video on his tablet. It was a live recording taken by an audience member at the gala.
The video zoomed in on Emily Bennett’s face, then on Vincent’s shocked reaction, and finally on Elena walking off the stage.
“Look at that,” Cassani sneered, blowing a cloud of cigar smoke toward the bare concrete ceiling. “The great Vincent Moretti, humbled by a seven-year-old girl.”
“Our contacts inside Moretti Tower say Vincent just threw Sophia out,” his lieutenant reported, standing across the table. “He’s mobilized his entire inner circle. He’s obsessed. He thinks the girl is his ticket to an heir outside the council's control.”
Cassani grinned, the yellowed tips of his teeth gleaming under the dim bulb. “An heir? No. She’s not an heir yet. She’s an unshielded piece of glass.”
He tossed the tablet onto the metal table with a loud clatter.
“Vincent has kept his life locked down like Fort Knox for seven years. No weaknesses. No soft spots. Now, out of nowhere, an illegitimate daughter surfaces, unprotected, staying in a regular commercial hotel without his armed guards.”
“What are your orders, boss?”
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“Bring the girl to me,” Cassani ordered, his smile turning cruel. “And bring the mother too. Let’s see how much of his shipping empire Vincent is willing to trade for the family he threw away.”
***
