Chapter 6 - Shadows Over the EstateSix months later, the Moretti estate was no longer the cold, silent mausoleum it had been after Matteo's death. The echoing marble halls now frequently carried the sound of tiny footsteps, light laughter, and the soft patter of small shoes chasing after the estate's massive hounds.
Lily—as Lorenzo had learned her name was—had completely upended his life. She had a room next to his, painted in warm cream and sage, filled with more books and toys than a three-year-old could reasonably use in a lifetime. Elena worked as the estate’s head administrator now, managing the household staff with quiet efficiency and earning Lorenzo’s absolute, unshakeable respect.
Yet, peace in the underworld was never permanent.
It happened on a crisp Tuesday afternoon in October. Lorenzo was reviewing shipping manifests in his study when Sal Bruno burst through the doors without knocking, a rare breach of protocol that made Lorenzo’s hand drop instantly to the drawer housing his sidearm.
"Boss," Sal panted, wiping sweat from his forehead despite the autumn chill. "We have a problem at the Manhattan docks. A container from Antwerp just cleared customs."
Lorenzo didn't look up from his papers. "And? We clear hundreds of containers a week."
"This one wasn't manifested for our front, Boss," Sal said grimly. "It was marked for Vittorio's personal off-ledger accounts. And inside... they didn't find contraband. They found a message."
Lorenzo’s head snapped up. "What kind of message?"
Sal placed a glossy black photograph onto the mahogany desk. It showed a fresh, ominous red symbol painted across the steel interior of the shipping container—the crest of the Russian Bratva, combined with the personal seal of Roman Petrov, Moscow’s most ruthless crime lord.
Underneath the symbol, scrawled in bold black marker, were the words: THE OLD MAN WAS JUST OUR PARTNER. NOW WE WANT THE WHOLE EMPIRE.
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Lorenzo stared at the photograph, the old, familiar ice settling back into his veins. Vittorio hadn't just been stealing from the family; he had been carving out a backdoor for foreign predators to infiltrate the New York harbor.
And they had just announced their arrival.
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