Chương 9 - The Poisoned Chalice
The master study on the third floor was completely dark when Luca and Luna kicked open the heavy oak doors, their weapons drawn.
The room had been torn apart.
Don Salvatore’s massive mahogany desk was smashed open, the antique iron safe behind the oil painting stood gaping and empty, and the glass case containing the family’s emergency offshore bearer bonds had been shattered.
On the floor beside the safe lay the old Don’s heart medication. The amber plastic bottle had been stomped on, the white pills crushed into worthless powder against the hardwood floor.
Vincent was gone.
“He took the bypass codes to the docks,” Luca muttered, his eyes scanning the empty safe, a dangerous vein pulsing at his temple. “And fifty million in untraceable bonds. He was never working for Vulov. Vulov was working for *him*.”
Matteo ran into the room, out of breath, his submachine gun slung across his chest. “Boss! The perimeter cameras caught Vincent exiting through the southern drainage tunnel. He had a black SUV waiting. He’s heading for the waterfront terminals.”
“How is my father?” Luca demanded, spinning around.
Matteo hesitated, swallowing hard. “The doctors stabilized his heart, but... he fell into a coma. The shock was too much. The head physician says... he might not wake up, Luca.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Luna stepped forward, tentatively reaching out to place her small hand against Luca’s back. She could feel the violent tremors of rage vibrating through his muscular frame. With his father incapacitated and the family’s chief enforcer turning traitor, the Moretti empire was bleeding from the neck. If the other families smelled weakness, they would descend like sharks to tear Luca to pieces before sunrise.
“Luca,” Luna whispered softly. “What do we do?”
Luca turned to look at her. In the dim light of the ruined study, his green eyes held no fear. They held the terrifying, brilliant resolve of a predator backed into a corner.
“We don't hide,” he said.
He reached down, taking her hand, intertwining his bloodstained fingers with hers.
“Matteo,” Luca ordered, his voice ringing with absolute, undisputed command. “Summon the Commission. Call every Capo, every boss of the Five Families, and every syndicate head currently in the city. Tell them Don Salvatore has stepped down.”
Matteo’s eyes widened in shock. “Luca... if you call a full assembly now, with Vincent out there with our codes, they will challenge your ascension! They’ll demand a vote!”
“Let them demand it,” Luca snarled. “Tell them the assembly is at midnight at Terminal 4. The Moretti family is crowning its new Don.”
He turned to Luna, his thumb gently caressing her cheek, wiping away a smear of black soot.
May you like
“You asked me why I chose you, Luna,” he said, his voice dropping into a fierce, intimate whisper. “Tonight, the whole world finds out why. Put on your armor, my queen. We’re going to hunt a traitor.”
***
