Chapter 6 - Reckoning in the Dark
Before Falcone or Dominic could react, the reinforced glass skylights high above the warehouse ceiling shattered simultaneously in a cascade of sparkling rain and glass.
Dozens of crimson laser sights rained down from the shadows, instantly locking onto the foreheads and chests of Falcone’s mercenaries. Suppressed automatic gunfire erupted with terrifying, surgical precision. Within three seconds, all four of Falcone’s hitmen collapsed to the concrete floor, dead before their weapons could even discharge.
Victor Falcone gasped, dropping his cigar as he stumbled backward in total shock. “What the hell—”
The warehouse’s double steel doors were suddenly blown off their hinges by a explosive breacher charge. Heavy smoke rolled into the building as thirty heavily armed Moretti loyalists, dressed in black tactical gear and led by Matteo Rossi, flooded the floor. They surrounded Falcone and Dominic, forcing them to their knees at gunpoint within seconds.
Adrian stepped forward slowly, the soles of his polished dress shoes crunching softly over shattered glass. He stopped right in front of his younger brother, who was kneeling on the freezing concrete, shaking uncontrollably.
“Adrian! Please!” Dominic sobbed, his arrogant facade completely disintegrating into sniveling desperation. “It was Falcone! He forced me into this! He threatened to kill my whole family if I didn't help him poison you!”
Victor Falcone spat blood onto the floor, glaring at Dominic with absolute disdain. “You pathetic cowardly worm! You came to me four months ago begging for the poison formula!”
Adrian looked down at Dominic with complete, icy detachment. The boy he had raised after their parents died, the brother he had protected and elevated to wealth, had sold his life for ledger books and trade routes.
“You know, Dominic,” Adrian murmured, his voice echoing in the vast warehouse. “I would have given you the empire. All you had to do was ask. All you had to do was remain my brother.”
Adrian turned to Matteo. “Take Falcone to the docks. Ensure his captains understand that the Moretti shipping lines are forever closed to his bloodline.”
“And Dominic, Don Moretti?” Matteo asked, gripping Dominic by the back of his collar.
May you like
Adrian turned his back on his brother, walking toward the exit as the cool rain washed over his face. “Strip him of the Moretti name, seize all his offshore accounts, and lock him in the basement cell at the old foundry until the syndicate council convenes.”
“Adrian! No! Brother! Please! Have mercy!” Dominic’s frantic screams echoed uselessly against the corrugated steel walls as he was dragged away into the dark, stormy night.
