flash
The rain pelted the roof of the armored black Cadillac with the force of falling lead. Inside, the cabin was suffocatingly silent, save for the rhythmic, mechanical swipe of the windshield wipers. I reached into my coat pocket, my thumb grazing the damp, frayed fabric of Miss Rose. / Chapter 2 / 20

Chapter 2 - The Judas Within

"Niko’s vehicle has been intercepted," Marco announced, breaking my train of thought. He tapped his earpiece, listening to a scrambled report from our vanguard units. "Two of our enforcers boxed him in near a safehouse in Queens. He didn't even try to run."

"Bring him to the warehouse on 4th Street," I ordered. "I want him waiting when we finish this."

Niko Bellini. A captain who had sat at my right hand for eight years. A man whose father had died taking a bullet for me during the warehouse wars of '98. I had trusted him with my supply lines, my bank accounts, and the security rotations of my estate.

And he had sold out Elena and Lily to Vincent Colombo for a slice of the docks.

Greed was common. Treachery within blood-bound ranks was unforgivable. When a soldier turns against the family, the rot spreads until the entire empire collapses from within. By dragging Niko into the light, I wasn't just extracting vengeance; I was cauterizing a wound before it bled me dry.

"Boss," Marco hesitated, turning halfway around in his seat. "Colombo is broadcasting on an open frequency. He wants to talk before we hit the pier."

"Put it on speaker."

A burst of static hissed through the Cadillac’s high-end audio system, followed by the oily, self-satisfied chuckle of Vincent Colombo.

“Moretti. I hear the engines roaring all the way out here on the docks. You’re moving fast. Faster than an old man like you should be running,” Colombo mocked, his voice slick like oil on water. “Did you find the doll? Cute, isn't it? Reminds you of what you’re about to lose if you cross the threshold of Pier 41.”

I leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees, staring into the dark rain outside.

"You made a mistake, Vincent," I said softly.

“Oh? And what’s that? Trying to carve out a bigger piece of the North River docks?”

"You took a little girl who didn't know how to be afraid of monsters," I replied, the coldness in my tone causing Marco to shift uneasily beside the driver. "And in doing so, you reminded me why men used to whisper my name in the dark."

The line fell dead silent for three seconds.

“You have twenty minutes, Moretti. Step onto the pier alone, or the next sound you hear will be a child crying for her mother as the tide comes in.”

The click of the disconnected call echoed like a gunshot.

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The burner phone in my hand felt heavy, like a slab of cold iron pulled from a sunken ship. Across the line, Marcus let out a breath that sounded like a low whistle escaping a pressure valve. Nineteen years of rust, nineteen years of school plays, quiet dinners, and ledger sheets—all of it dissolved in the space of a single heartbeat.

The burner phone in my hand felt heavy, like a slab of cold iron pulled...

The man in the back of the Bentley was not a stranger, though it took me three agonizing seconds to place the face behind the silver-trimmed beard. Arthur Vance. The reclusive billionaire shipping tycoon, corporate sniper, and my father’s oldest, most estranged rival.

The man in the back of the Bentley was not a stranger, though it took me...

The ink on the medical schedule wasn't standard printer black. It was darker, heavier, pressed down with the kind of deliberate malice that only a fountain pen could deliver. I stared at the signature at the bottom of the page, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.

The ink on the medical schedule wasn't standard printer black. It was da...

I reached inside my coat, pulled out my heavy Kimber custom 1911, and checked the magazine. Fully loaded. Fourteen rounds of hollow-point persuasion.

"Park sixty yards back from the main gates," I told the driver. "When I breach the perimeter, burn the shipping containers blocking the secondary corridor. Don't let a single rat escape into the harbor."

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