Chapter 5 - The Gathering StormWithin two hours, apartment 3B on Sutter Avenue had been transformed into a fully equipped mobile ICU unit.
Top-tier specialists flown in from Johns Hopkins and Zurich monitored Sophia’s vitals in the back bedroom, while downstairs, an entire tactical security detachment secured the perimeter of the Queens tenement, locking down the street against any prying eyes or underworld scouts.
Dominic sat at the small kitchen table, staring down at a medical file that confirmed his worst fears.
An aggressive glioblastoma multiforme. Inoperable without catastrophic neurological damage.
The door to the study opened, and Vince stepped inside, closing it quietly behind him.
“Boss, we have a problem,” Vince reported, his face grim. “Word travels fast in the five boroughs. Salvatore Rizzi’s remaining loyalists caught wind that you pulled a heavy security detail out to a rundown tenement in Queens. They’re putting two and two together.”
Dominic stood up slowly. The sorrow in his eyes vanished in a fraction of a second, replaced by the lethal, freezing fury of an apex predator whose den had been discovered.
“Sal is locked away in a federal holding cell,” Dominic reminded him coldly.
“Sal has friends on the outside, Boss,” Vince warned. “And if they find out you have a daughter—and that the mother is terminally ill—they won't hesitate to use them as leverage to force a hostile takeover of the syndicates.”
Dominic walked over to the window, looking out over the grimy New York street where Lily was currently sitting in the living room, quietly coloring a picture book while a private nurse handed her a glass of apple juice.
“They won't get within a mile of her,” Dominic said, his voice dropping into a lethal hiss. “Vance, double the perimeter. Anyone who approaches this building without my explicit clearance... eliminate the threat before they cross the street.”
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“Understood, Boss.”
“And Vince?” Dominic added, not turning around. “Prepare the private medical helicopter. We’re moving Sophia and Lily to the Westchester estate tonight. It’s time they lived in a fortress where they belong.”
