Chapter 6 - The City in Flames
The failed raid on the estate was the final catalyst.
Victor Costello stopped playing defense. Within two hours of the attack, he mobilized his entire syndicate network, declaring absolute, unyielding war on the Moretti crime family and Mick O’Shea’s rogue loan operation.
By sunrise, three of Moretti’s illegal casinos downtown had been raided and shut down by federal authorities tipped off by anonymous, incredibly detailed files from Victor’s private intelligence team.
Mick O’Shea’s financial accounts across three offshore havens were frozen overnight.
Inside the command center of the estate—a high-tech room hidden beneath the garage—Sadi sat next to Victor, reviewing shipping manifests and financial documents on three large monitors.
Because she had spent months picking up discarded papers, listening to hushed phone conversations, and observing the movements of guests while working as a maid, Sadi possessed an extraordinary memory for small details.
“Wait,” Sadi said, pointing at a line item on a ledger from a dummy corporation named Blue Horizon Logistics. “That name.”
Victor turned his chair toward her. “What about it?”
“Mick O’Shea used to mention Blue Horizon on his phone calls when he thought no one was listening,” Sadi explained, her finger tracing the digital document. “He said his primary ledger wasn't kept in a bank. It was stored in a physical safe at an abandoned cold-storage facility near Pier 54—the old fish packing plant.”
Matteo, standing behind them, leaned in. “Boss, that facility has been abandoned for five years. It’s off the city grid. If O’Shea is hiding his core assets and his mercenary payroll there, that’s where he’s operating from.”
Victor looked at Sadi, a look of profound, fierce pride burning in his eyes.
“You just found his heart, Sadi,” Victor said softly.
He stood up, pulling his shoulder holster over his dark shirt. “Matteo, call the captains. We take forty men. We surround Pier 54 and burn it to the ground.”
“Victor,” Sadi said, standing up and grabbing his wrist.
He stopped, looking down at her small hand wrapped around his sleeve.
“Be careful,” she whispered, her gray eyes filled with a deep, fierce worry that had nothing to do with her own safety and everything to do with his. “Don't let him hurt you.”
Victor brought his hand up, cupping her face in his large, warm palm. His thumb brushed over her lips gently.
“He can’t hurt me, Sadi,” Victor murmured, his voice low and intense. “Because for the first time in ten years, I have something worth coming home to.”
He leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against hers—a deep, possessive, passionate kiss that made Sadi’s knees go soft, filling her whole body with a sudden, beautiful heat.
May you like
When he pulled back, his grey eyes were burning with lethal promise.
“Wait for me in the master suite,” Victor ordered softly. “I’ll be back before breakfast.”
