Chapter 8 - The Reckoning
The warehouse floor was remarkably quiet after the disarming. Moretti’s men stood with their hands locked behind their heads against the concrete pillars, surrounded by Dominic’s elite security detail.
Salvatore Moretti fell to his knees, his bravado entirely shattered, staring up at Dominic and Sadi as if looking at ghosts.
"You can't do this," Moretti choked out, spittle flecking his lips. "The Commission—the old families—they won't let you wipe us out completely! It’ll destroy the balance of power in Chicago!"
Dominic stood over him, towering like an executioner passing final judgment.
"There is no balance of power anymore, Salvatore," Dominic said, his voice cold as arctic ice. "There is only the House of Russo. And you just threatened its foundation."
He didn't raise a weapon. He didn't strike the man. He simply turned to Julian Reyes, giving a single, subtle nod.
"Take him away," Dominic commanded flatly. "Put him on a freighter bound for Sicily. Make sure he spends the rest of his natural life wondering what the sun looks like from a stone cellar."
"Yes, Boss," Julian replied, gesturing to two enforcers who hauled the screaming, thrashing Moretti to his feet and dragged him out into the cold night air.
Within minutes, the warehouse was empty of enemies.
Sadi lowered her weapon, letting out a long, shuddering breath that she didn't realize she’d been holding. The adrenaline rush was finally fading, leaving a dull ache in her healing ribs.
Dominic turned to her, his hard, predatory facade melting away instantly the moment he looked into her eyes. He stepped close, gently taking the submachine gun from her hands and tossing it aside onto an empty crate.
"You shouldn't have come," Dominic said, his voice dropping into a rough, protective rasp. "I told you to stay at the estate."
"And let you walk into a slaughterhouse alone?" Sadi shot back, her stubborn fire flaring up despite the exhaustion wrapping around her bones. "I took four bullets for your mother, Dominic. You really think I was going to sit at home knitting while my husband went to war?"
Dominic stared at her for a long, silent moment. Then, slowly, a genuine, profound smile broke across his face—the first real, unfiltered smile Sadi had ever seen him wear.
He reached out, pulling her tightly against his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist as if she were the most precious thing in the entire universe.
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"You are completely incorrigible, Mrs. Russo," he whispered into her hair, burying his face in the dark strands.
"Get used to it, Boss," she murmured against his shoulder, closing her eyes as the warmth of his embrace finally chased away the last lingering ghosts of Sal’s Diner.
