Chapter 13 - Shadows in the Suburbs
The weeks following the council meeting brought an eerie, deceptive peace to the Westchester estate. The snow melted into the crisp, blooming air of early spring, and the gardens burst into vibrant displays of red tulips and white lilies.
Lily had practically adopted Dominic as her personal playground companion, dragging him into the gardens every afternoon to hunt for frogs or build elaborate castles out of river stones. To see a feared mafia boss sitting cross-legged in the mud, wearing a plastic tiara because Lily insisted he was a "mud king," was a sight that never failed to bring a genuine smile to my face.
Yet, deep down, a nagging unease refused to leave my chest.
Late one evening, long after Lily had fallen asleep in her new room in the master wing, I sat at the mahogany desk in Dominic’s private study, reviewing the estate’s revised security logs.
The door creaked open, and Dominic stepped inside, loosening his silk tie as he tossed a thick manila folder onto the desk.
“What’s that?” I asked, leaning back in the leather chair.
“Federal intelligence reports,” Dominic sighed, pulling out a chair and sitting beside me. “The FBI’s organized crime division in Manhattan is cleaning house after the fall of the Queens syndicate. They’re sniffing around anyone who had financial ties to Viktor Petrov.”
“Do they have our names?”
“Not directly,” Dominic replied, shaking his head. “Our firewall held. But there’s a loose thread. Petrov’s financial accountant, a man named Julian Vance, managed to escape the federal raid on Pier 44. He’s been moving underground, trying to liquidate whatever offshore assets Petrov left behind.”
I frowned, studying the grainy photograph of a sleek, bespectacled man in an expensive gray suit stamped inside the folder. “What does Vance want with us?”
“Vengeance, or blackmail,” Dominic said darkly. “Vance knows every shadow account Petrov used to bribe our staff. He knows who paid Thomas to poison Ethan’s cake. And worse... he knows that someone inside our current payroll is still feeding him information.”
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My blood ran cold. “An insider? We cleared the house after Vincenzo died!”
“We cleared the obvious ones,” Dominic corrected, his jaw tightening. “But corruption runs deep, Clara. Vance has contacts we haven't mapped yet. And until we find out who is whispering in his ear, none of us are truly safe.”
