Chapter 4 - The Lion AwakensBy noon, Dominic Moretti stepped out onto the second-floor balcony overlooking the grand foyer. He was dressed in a crisp black tailored suit, his hair neatly combed, the haunted, hollow look in his eyes replaced by a terrifying, razor-sharp clarity.
The capos gathered below—men who had grown arrogant in his absence—suddenly froze mid-conversation.
Dominic’s gaze swept over them like a cold wind. He didn't slouch. He didn't rub his temples. He stood tall, his shoulders back, exuding the absolute, suffocating authority that had built the Moretti syndicate from the ashes of the old guard.
"Vincenzo," Dominic’s voice cut through the cavernous hall like a switchblade.
Vincenzo, a burly capo who had been skimming percentages from the downtown ports, nearly dropped his cigar. "B-boss. You're... you're down early."
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"I've been wasting a lot of time," Dominic said smoothly, descending the grand staircase one measured step at a time. "And I hate waste, Vincenzo. Let's talk about the shipping manifests from the piers. I hear some numbers are missing."
As Dominic interrogated the sweating capo with ruthless, pinpoint precision, Alessandro watched from the shadows of the library doorway. His heart hammered against his ribs. The broken, decaying king was gone. The monster had returned, sharper and more focused than ever. And Alessandro knew instinctively that whatever had brought Dominic back from the dead, it wasn't going to be easily undone.
