Chapter 6 - Secrets Written in BloodThirty minutes later, the storm over Manhattan reached its violent peak. Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the glass tower of the Moretti Penthouse like a modern fortress against the black clouds.
While Dante’s Shadow Guard launched a decoy assault on the front lobby—drawing the bulk of Valenti’s mercenary forces into a brutal bottleneck—Dante and I breached the building via the private helipad on the roof.
We moved through the top-floor maintenance corridors like shadows. My heart pounded in my ears, but my hands were steady on the firearm Dante had given me.
We reached the private observation gallery overlooking the main penthouse living room.
Below us, Don Valenti sat at Dante’s executive desk, surrounded by four heavily armed bodyguards. Bianca stood near the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, impatiently checking her diamond-encrusted watch.
"Where is Mateo's team?" Don Valenti demanded, slamming his fist onto the mahogany surface. "They should have delivered the child by now!"
"Mateo is dead, Father," Bianca said cold-heartedly, taking another sip of champagne. "It doesn't matter. Once our men wipe out Dante’s remaining loyalists downstairs, we will execute the emergency clause in the syndicate charter. You will be named regent, and I will claim the Moretti estate."
"You forgot one detail, Bianca," a cold voice echoed from the shadows above.
Bianca froze.
Dante stepped out onto the upper balcony, his assault rifle raised. Behind him, I moved to the main security console on the balcony wall, rapidly punching in the master override codes I had memorized over two years of service.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Instantly, thick steel blast shutters slammed down over every window and exit door in the penthouse, locking Don Valenti, Bianca, and their guards inside a airtight steel trap.
"Dante!" Bianca shrieked, backing away as her guards raised their weapons toward the balcony.
"Drop your weapons!" Dante commanded. "The building is surrounded. Your men downstairs are already dead or in chains."
Don Valenti sneered, standing up slowly. "You think you've won, Dante? You think killing us gets you your life back? The trust fund is already locked! Without Gabriel’s decryption key, the entire Moretti empire goes bankrupt in forty-eight hours! You'll be a king of ash!"
"He doesn't need the key," I shouted, stepping to the edge of the balcony, holding up the silver quantum flash drive from Sophia's locket. "Because I already initiated the upload to the Federal Reserve and the Department of Justice five minutes ago!"
Don Valenti’s face turned corpse-pale. "You... you did what?!"
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"Project Archangel is active," I said coldly. "Every illegal bank account, every corrupt politician on your payroll, and every asset owned by the Valenti family has just been seized by the federal government."
Bianca gasped, dropping her champagne glass. It shattered on the marble floor. "Father... our family is ruined..."
