CHAPTER 8 — The Empire Falls Live
Millions of people watched the broadcast.
News anchors interrupted scheduled programming.
Every screen showed the same recording.
Carmine Rossi's final confession.
Then came Lorenzo's own voice.
"Kill my brother."
"Kill Dominic."
"Leave no witnesses."
The country froze.
Within minutes...
Federal courthouses issued emergency arrest warrants.
Banks froze hundreds of accounts.
Politicians who had appeared untouchable suddenly disappeared from public view.
The names in Carmine's files spread like wildfire.
Judges.
Senators.
Police commissioners.
Corporate executives.
The Rossi empire wasn't collapsing.
It was imploding.
Back at the shipyard...
Lorenzo realized what had happened.
He grabbed Sister Agnes and pressed a pistol against her head.
"I still win!"
Before anyone moved...
a single gunshot echoed.
Lorenzo looked down.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Dominic stepped from the shadows.
Still weak.
Still pale.
But standing.
"You always aimed for the heart," Dominic said.
"I learned to aim for the hand."
Lorenzo's pistol fell to the ground.
His men hesitated.
Then something unexpected happened.
One by one...
they lowered their weapons.
Nobody wanted to die protecting a man whose empire had already fallen.
Police vehicles smashed through the warehouse gates.
Federal agents flooded the docks.
Lorenzo tried to run.
He made it only ten steps.
Ben tackled him into the freezing water.
The two men struggled beneath the surface.
Dominic rushed forward.
Sarah reached the edge of the dock just as Ben climbed out.
Alone.
Everyone stared into the dark water.
Lorenzo never resurfaced.
The current carried him beneath the old shipping pier.
By sunrise...
the man who had murdered his own brother had vanished without a trace.
No body.
May you like
No goodbye.
Only silence.
