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The dining room chandelier hummed, a low, vibrating chord that seemed to amplify the crushing pressure in the air. Rocco Moretti’s fingers curled around the edge of the polished mahogany table until his knuckles turned the color of bone. He did not yell. In the underworld, a raised voice meant you had lost control; absolute silence meant someone was about to die. / Chapter 13 / 20

Chapter 13 - The Palermo Dossier

Back at the Moretti estate, midnight had settled over the sprawling gardens like a heavy velvet cloak. In the private study, the glow of multiple computer monitors illuminated Sophia’s face as she scrolled through encrypted financial logs and intercepted communication lines.

The door opened silently, and Rocco walked in, carrying two cups of black coffee. He set one down on the mahogany desk beside Sophia’s elbow.

"You're working too late," Rocco said quietly, leaning against the edge of the desk. "The docks are secured. Marco has double-checked the perimeter. Nothing moves tonight without my authorization."

"It's not the docks I'm worried about," Sophia replied, sliding her laptop toward him. "Look at this. An unauthorized query was just executed on the St. Helena Hospital archival database from an external IP address in Palermo, Sicily."

Rocco’s eyes narrowed as he read the data stream. "Someone is digging into closed maternity files from ten years ago. Files tied to the internal registry."

"Not just any files," Sophia continued, tapping a key to bring up a secondary document. "When I cross-referenced the encryption keys, I found a matching archival code that was supposedly expunged during Valentina’s trial. Rocco... Leo isn't an only child."

The room grew dead silent. Rocco gripped the edge of the desk so hard his knuckles turned white. "Explain."

"According to the encrypted backup fragments recovered from your late uncle's private terminal, Clara gave birth to twins," Sophia said, her voice steady but laced with gravity. "A boy and a girl. Valentina’s uncle intercepted the female infant during the diversion and had her sent overseas before the hospital lockdown."

Rocco stood up slowly, the imposing mafia boss returning in full force. "Clara doesn't know. If she found out..."

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The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure terminal on my desk flashed a violent crimson. I hadn't slept in thirty-six hours, my eyes burning from staring at columns of ghost figures, duplicate invoices, and shell corporations linked to Dominic Rossi. But the red alert wasn’t from Rossi’s faction. It was an internal security flag originating from the estate’s main vault deep beneath the west wing.

The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure ter...

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scattering the light from the chandeliers. The muffled laughter died instantly, replaced by a suffocating, heavy silence that crept outward from the grand staircase.

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scatter...

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking out the clinical, terrifying silence of the kitchen. Evelyn Crane stood stiffly in front of my mahogany desk, her hands folded over her apron with the rigid precision of someone who had spent decades micromanaging every square inch of my estate. Behind her, Norah hovered near the doorway, clutching her clipboard like a shield.

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking...

"She hasn't yet," Sophia interrupted. "And neither has Leo. But if Valentina’s remaining loyalists in Europe locate the girl first, they will use her as a pawn against everything you've built."

"Book a private flight to Palermo," Rocco commanded, his voice dropping into a lethal whisper. "We leave in two hours."

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