Chapter 6 - The Council of Blood
The Drake Hotel's Grand Ballroom was a masterpiece of Gold Coast luxury—gilded chandeliers, silk draperies, and massive oak doors.
Tonight, however, the ballroom was a fortress.
Thirty heavily armed soldiers from the Five Families of Chicago and Philadelphia stood along the walls, their hands resting on concealed weapons.
At the head of a massive oval mahogany table sat the Chairman of the Commission—Carmine Moretti.
To his right sat Victor Rossi, the Don of Philadelphia, a broad, brutal man with graying hair and dark, vengeful eyes. Around the rest of the table sat the bosses of the Genovese, Lucchese, and Detroit families.
Carmine held a gold fountain pen, casually tapping it against the table.
"Lorenzo has lost his mind," Carmine announced smoothly to the gathered bosses. "He broke a sacred alliance with Philadelphia, he attacked my security team at Sunset Tower, and he is mentally unfit to command the Moretti family. I am calling for an immediate Commission vote to strip him of his title and pass authority to my senior consigliere."
Victor Rossi slammed his fist on the table. "He humiliated my daughter! He killed four of my best men last night! I want his head, Carmine! And I want it before sunrise!"
"You won't be taking anyone's head tonight, Victor."
The heavy double doors of the ballroom blew open.
Lorenzo Moretti strode into the room.
He wore a pristine black three-piece tuxedo, his posture towering, arrogant, and immaculate. Behind him walked Mateo, holding a leather briefcase, accompanied by six elite Moretti soldiers carrying tactical assault rifles.
Beside Lorenzo walked Beatrice.
She was stunning. She wore an exquisite dark emerald-green velvet evening gown that hugged her curves, her auburn hair styled in elegant waves over one shoulder. Around her neck rested a brilliant diamond necklace that Lorenzo had given her an hour earlier.
She walked with the breathtaking authority of a queen stepping onto a battlefield.
The ballroom fell dead silent.
Carmine’s face drained of color. He stood up from his chair, his hands shaking slightly as he stared at Beatrice.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Carmine bellowed, trying to maintain his authority. "You bring a civilian woman into a Commission meeting?! Guards, remove them!"
"Nobody moves," Lorenzo commanded, his voice ringing through the ballroom like a thunderclap.
Not a single guard moved. The Moretti soldiers stationed along the perimeter stayed completely still, their loyalties having already shifted to the young Don who paid their salaries and won their battles.
Lorenzo walked to the foot of the oval table, stepping into the bright light of the crystal chandelier.
"Members of the Commission," Lorenzo spoke clearly, his dark eyes sweeping over the bosses. "Five years ago, Carmine Moretti told you that my wife, Beatrice, stole fifty million dollars from our syndicate accounts and fled the country with Marco Bellini."
Lorenzo gestured toward Beatrice.
"She stands before you tonight. She did not steal a single dime. She was pregnant with my twin children—the heirs to the Moretti dynasty. Carmine forged bank documents, ordered her murder, and forced her into hiding because he feared a civilian wife would make me impossible for him to control."
Gasps echoed across the table. The Don of the Lucchese family leaned forward, his eyes wide. "Is this true, Carmine?"
"It’s a lie!" Carmine spat, sweat breaking out on his forehead. "He’s making up fairy tales to justify his treason!"
"Is it a lie, Carmine?" Beatrice spoke up, her clear, powerful voice cutting through the tension.
She stepped forward, placing a thick black leather notebook and four flash drives onto the center of the mahogany table.
"This is Marco Bellini’s private ledger," Beatrice announced, looking directly into Carmine’s terrified eyes. "It contains twenty years of Carmine Moretti’s personal wire transfers. It shows that he skimmed forty million dollars from the Commission’s shared narcotics pool in Miami. It shows that he paid off federal judges using Lucchese family funds. And it proves he ordered the assassination of Don Lucchese’s brother ten years ago."
Don Lucchese stood up so fast his chair crashed to the floor. "WHAT?!"
Lucchese grabbed the black ledger, flipping through the pages. His face went purple with rage as he saw Carmine’s undeniable signature beneath detailed transfer records.
Victor Rossi looked down at the documents, then raised his shocked gaze to Carmine. "You stole from us? You skimmed from Philadelphia while asking for my daughter's hand in marriage?!"
"It’s a forgery!" Carmine screamed, backing away toward the wall. "They forged it!"
Lorenzo took three slow, deliberate steps toward his father.
"The Commission charter is clear," Lorenzo said, his voice cold and sharp as a razor. "Treason against the Five Families is punishable by total forfeiture of rank, asset seizure, and immediate exile or execution."
Lorenzo turned to the bosses at the table.
"I call for a vote," Lorenzo declared. "Who among you recognizes Carmine Moretti as Don?"
Silence filled the ballroom.
Don Lucchese stepped back from the table. "He is no Don of mine."
Don Genovese shook his head. "Treason against the Commission is death."
Victor Rossi spat on the floor at Carmine’s feet. "You're finished, Carmine."
Lorenzo looked at his father. The old man looked small, frail, and broken, stripped of his lies, his money, and his authority in front of the entire underworld.
"Mateo," Lorenzo ordered smoothly. "Take my father to the cellar at the Oak Brook estate. Strip him of his phones, his accounts, and his cane. He will live out the rest of his miserable life under twenty-four-hour guard in the basement he built."
"No! Lorenzo! I am your father!" Carmine shrieked as Mateo and two guards grabbed his arms, dragging him toward the side exit. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I BUILT YOU!"
"You built a monster, Carmine," Lorenzo said coldly as his father was dragged away. "And now the monster is taking your crown."
Lorenzo turned to the remaining Commission bosses. He reached out and took Beatrice’s hand, lifting it for everyone to see.
May you like
"The Moretti family is under new leadership," Don Lorenzo announced. "Our trade routes are open, our debts are settled, and my wife is the undisputed Queen of Chicago. Anyone who challenges her challenges me."
The Commission bosses stood up one by one, bowing their heads in complete, absolute submission to the new King of Chicago.
