Chapter 4 - The Fall of the RivalsBy 10:00 AM the following morning, the corporate and underground sectors of Chicago detonated into an unprecedented crisis.
Marcus Moretti—a bitter, fifty-five-year-old crime boss who operated secondary shipping rackets out of South Chicago—believed Gabriel was weakened by his injury.
Moretti called an emergency meeting of the Chicago Maritime Council at the Drake Hotel, intending to force a vote to revoke Gabriel’s terminal leases.
At 2:00 PM, six black armored Maybachs pulled up to the red carpet outside the Drake Hotel.
When the mahogany double doors of the grand ballroom were thrown open, Gabriel walked inside wearing an immaculate black suit, his posture tall, broad, and unyielding, despite the bandages beneath his shirt.
And walking beside his right shoulder, wearing a custom emerald silk evening dress provided by Gabriel’s stylist, her dark hair falling in glossy waves, her hazel eyes holding zero fear, was me.
The sixty syndicate captains and corporate directors inside the ballroom went dead, breathlessly silent.
Marcus Moretti stood near the head table, holding a glass of scotch, his eyes widening in total, horror-stricken panic as he saw Gabriel walking toward him completely unharmed, flanked by twenty armed Vance operators.
"Moretti," Gabriel spoke.
His thunderous baritone echoed through the high-ceilinged room like a rolling wave of thunder, freezing the blood in every man's veins.
"Gabriel...!" Moretti stammered, backing against the mahogany table. "Listen to me! Pier 42 was a rogue operation! I had nothing to do with those men!"
Gabriel didn't draw a gun. He walked straight to the table, set an encrypted tablet flat onto the surface, and projected a massive banking ledger onto the wall monitor behind Moretti.
The red numbers illuminated the room:
TERMINATED LEASE CONTRACTS: PIERS 30–50 — Executed by Vance Capital Operations at 9:00 AM today.
SEIZED OFFSHORE TRUSTS: $85 MILLION — Diverted into the Emma Reed Free Medical Trust.
IMMEDIATE ARREST WARRANT — Issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for Extortion, Fraud, and Attempted Homicide.
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Marcus Moretti collapsed flat onto his knees on the carpeted floorboards, his hands shaking frantically as two uniformed Federal Marshals stepped into the room, slapping heavy steel handcuffs around his wrists.
"You're finished in Chicago, Marcus," Gabriel announced deadpan, looking down at the groveling Don with a look of chilling, absolute disdain. "Your empire belongs to the woman you tried to threaten."
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