Chapter 5 - The War for the Harbor
By Thursday morning, news of Julian Moretti’s sudden "resignation" from the Moretti Group had sent shockwaves through the financial and criminal sectors of New York.
The press reported that Julian had stepped down due to health reasons, but behind the closed doors of the five families, the truth was already spreading: Dominic Moretti had discovered a traitor within his own bloodline, and a new heiress had emerged from the shadows.
I stood on the balcony of the Bedford estate—a sprawling, gated manor house in Westchester County where Dominic had moved Lily and me for maximum security.
Lily was running across the vast green lawn below, playing fetch with two massive, gentle German Shepherds that belonged to Dominic's private security team. For the first time in her life, she wore custom-tailored clothes, her cheeks were rosy with health, and she had a private tutor waiting in the library.
"She looks happy," Dominic said, stepping out onto the balcony behind me, holding two porcelain cups of steaming coffee.
"She thinks this is a fairytale castle," I said, taking a cup from him. "I haven't had the heart to tell her that the men standing by the gate are carrying automatic weapons."
"They are there so she never has to know what those weapons sound like," Dominic replied, leaning his forearms against the stone balustrade.
"Dominic," I said softly, turning to face my older brother. "What happens now? Arthur Vance, your corporate attorney, showed me the papers yesterday. The forty percent equity... the land deeds to Wharves 12 through 16... it's worth over two hundred million dollars."
"It's yours," Dominic said plainly. "It was always yours."
"I don't want two hundred million dollars of mob money, Dominic!" I insisted, my voice rising slightly. "I spent eight years processing invoices! I know where that money comes from! I don't want Lily raised on blood money!"
Dominic looked at me for a long time. Instead of anger, a deep sense of respect illuminated his eyes.
"That is why our father left it to you, Anna," Dominic revealed quietly. "Vincent knew I was bound to the family business by honor and obligation. He knew Julian was consumed by greed. But he knew your mother raised you away from the syndicate. He left you the legal assets—the deep-water piers, the real estate deeds, the commercial warehouses—the clean side of the empire."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather binder, laying it on the stone table between us.
"If you sign these restructuring papers," Dominic explained, "we sever Wharves 12 through 16 from the Moretti syndicate entirely. We transfer them into a legitimate, publicly traded port management company registered under your name. No illegal shipments. No union kickbacks. A completely clean, corporate entity that will fund Lily's future for generations."
I stared at the binder, my heart swelling with an overwhelming emotion I hadn't felt in years: hope.
"And what about the other families?" I asked. "Marco said the Lucchese family was working with Julian to seize those exact wharves."
Dominic’s jaw tightened, his gray eyes flashing with lethal resolve.
"The Lucchese family thinks Julian’s removal makes us weak," Dominic said cold-bloodedly. "Their boss, Sal Lucchese, called a emergency meeting of the commission for tonight at a private warehouse near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He thinks he’s going to demand a thirty percent cut of your piers as a 'settlement' for Julian’s unpaid debts."
"Dominic..." panic seized my chest. "It's a trap, isn't it?"
"Of course it's a trap," Dominic smiled—a cold, terrifying razor blade of a smile. "Which is why I'm taking Marco, forty of our best men, and the original, sealed signed copy of our father's will."
May you like
He reached out, setting his heavy, warm hand over mine.
"You stay here with Lily, Anna," Dominic promised. "By midnight tonight, the Moretti name will belong to the clean light of day. And no one will ever question your right to exist again."
