Chapter 3 - Ashes and Lies
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Damian Costello stepped out of his armored SUV, his black trench coat snapping in the harsh morning wind. He stared at the smoldering ruins of his ancestral home. The air smelled of wet ash, melted copper, and death.
"Boss," his second-in-command, Luca, approached cautiously. "The fire department says the blaze started in the nursery. It was an accelerant. Professional job."
Damian’s jaw tightened. "My sons?"
Luca swallowed hard, looking at the ground. "They haven't found remains yet. The floor collapsed into the basement. It's a mess down there."
"And my wife?" Damian's voice was dangerously quiet.
"Victoria is safe," Luca said quickly. "She made it to the boathouse with Briggs. She’s at the safe house in the city now. She’s... inconsolable, boss. She said the gunmen cut her off from the nursery. She tried to get to the boys, but there was an explosion."
Damian stared at the blackened husk of the east wing. His eyes were dark, dead things. "Who did this?"
"The Moretti family," Luca said. "We caught one of their men in the perimeter. He talked before he bled out. They wanted your entire line wiped out."
Damian slowly took a cigar from his pocket, lighting it with a steady hand. The flame illuminated the lethal calm on his face. He didn't look like a man in mourning. He looked like a man preparing to burn the world down.
"Tell the men to gear up," Damian said, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke. "Every Moretti breathing today will be a corpse by midnight. And Luca?"
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"Yes, Boss?"
"Keep digging through the ashes. If my sons are dead, I want to bury them. If they aren't... I will find them."
