Chapter 4 - The Night of Broken Glass
Pier 19 was a skeletal wreck of rusted metal and dark water.
When Harlan’s SUVs pulled up, the silence was absolute. He stepped out of his vehicle, a predator dressed in silk, surrounded by twenty of his most ruthless killers. He was expecting an ambush, but he wasn't expecting what he got.
There were no shots. Not yet.
I emerged from the shadows of a crane, flanked by Tomas, Tony, and thirty of my best men. But the real force was behind us—the dockworkers, the families, the people of Queens who had lived under Harlan’s thumb of terror for too long. They weren't armed with guns, but with the collective fury of a community that had finally reached its breaking point.
"You're a long way from home, Victor," I said, my voice carrying over the sound of the churning water.
Harlan smiled, showing teeth that looked like gravestones. "I heard you were broken, Moretti. I heard you were mourning."
"I was," I said. "But then I remembered something. The dead don't stay dead in this city. And neither do I."
The signal was given. Bruno let out a roar that silenced the wind.
The battle wasn't a skirmish; it was a total collapse of Harlan’s world. His men realized too late that they weren't just fighting a mafia boss—they were fighting a city that had reclaimed its pride.
Amidst the chaos, I found Harlan. He had retreated toward the water, his mask of arrogance shattered, his pistol firing blindly into the dark.
I didn't use a gun. I walked toward him, my hands empty, my gaze locked on his. He fired—once, twice—but the bullets missed. He was terrified. He had never faced someone who wasn't afraid of dying.
I tackled him, driving him into the cold, wet concrete. I didn't care about the territory, the money, or the power. I cared about the purple sneakers. I cared about the horse drawings on the wall.
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"You think this is about business?" I rasped, pinning his arms. "This was never about business. This was a crime against humanity."
I didn't kill him. Death would have been too merciful. I left him for the authorities, tied to the gate, surrounded by the mountain of evidence we had pulled from his own servers.
