Chapter 14 - The Night a Mafia King Chose His FamilyThe abandoned bakery warehouse smelled of burnt flour and cold metal.
I knew the building well. Years earlier, Novak's had supplied bread to several restaurants along the waterfront, and I had occasionally helped with deliveries when the regular driver was sick.
I remembered the narrow loading entrance, the broken service elevator, and the small office overlooking the rear corridor.
Victor had chosen the warehouse because he knew Dominic would expect a trap at the pier.
He had forgotten one thing.
A mother knows every place her child might be hidden if the world is cruel enough to take her.
Dominic wanted to bring twenty men.
I convinced him to bring four.
“If Victor sees an army, he'll panic,” I told him. “And if he panics, Rosie could get hurt.”
Dominic looked at the building.
“Your plan is to walk into a warehouse controlled by an armed traitor?”
“My plan is to bring my daughter home.”
He studied me.
Then he nodded.
“We do this your way.”
Michael remained at the safehouse with Bruno's team, recovering from his injuries and coordinating the evidence that would expose Victor.
Dominic and I entered through the loading entrance.
The warehouse was dark except for a single light hanging over the main floor.
Victor stood beneath it.
Isabella sat in a chair nearby, her hands bound.
And Rosie was nowhere in sight.
“Where is my daughter?” I demanded.
Victor smiled.
“Mrs. Bennett. You've been much more trouble than I anticipated.”
“Where is she?”
“She is safe.”
“Then let me see her.”
Victor shook his head.
“First, the ledger.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You'll get nothing until they are released.”
Victor laughed.
“You still think this is about money?”
He looked at Dominic with undisguised contempt.
“This is about what you owe me. Twelve years I stood beside you. Twelve years I kept your enemies away. I watched you reward every fool who made you smile while I did the work that kept your empire standing.”
Dominic's expression remained calm.
“You were paid.”
“Paid?” Victor spat. “I was promised influence. I was promised power.”
“You were promised a salary.”
Victor raised his gun.
“Then perhaps it's time I collected something else.”
From somewhere above us, I heard a faint sound.
A child's voice.
“Mommy?”
I turned toward the upper walkway.
Rosie stood behind a metal railing, held by a man whose face I couldn't see clearly.
“Rosie!”
“Mommy!”
She began to cry.
I took one step forward.
Victor immediately raised his gun.
“Stay where you are.”
Dominic's voice dropped.
“Victor, this is over.”
“No. This ends when I say it ends.”
He gestured toward a table beside him.
“Put the ledger there. Then kneel.”
Dominic looked at the table.
There was a black metal case on it.
He opened his coat and removed a thin folder.
“This is all I have.”
Victor glanced at it.
“That isn't the original.”
“No,” Dominic answered. “It isn't.”
Victor's smile vanished.
“You're lying.”
“Not about this.”
Dominic slowly placed the folder on the floor.
“The original ledger has already been delivered to federal investigators, along with the recordings from Bergman's.”
Victor went pale.
“You wouldn't dare.”
“I already did.”
“You'd destroy your own organization?”
Dominic looked at him for a long moment.
“It's not worth saving if this is what it takes to keep it alive.”
Victor's gun trembled.
“You're bluffing.”
Dominic shook his head.
“Carlo is in custody. His accounts are frozen. Every transaction you authorized is documented. Even if you kill us tonight, the evidence will remain.”
Victor stared at him.
Then his gaze shifted toward me.
“Then I suppose I'll have to make certain there's nothing left for you to protect.”
He turned his gun toward Rosie.
I didn't think.
I ran.
Dominic lunged at Victor as the gun fired.
The shot struck a support beam above us.
Metal screamed.
The upper railing buckled.
Rosie slipped.
For one horrifying second, she hung over the dark floor, her tiny hands gripping the broken railing.
I reached the stairs just as she fell.
I caught her against my chest.
We crashed onto the landing, pain exploding through my shoulder.
Rosie clung to me, sobbing.
“Mommy!”
“I'm here. I'm here.”
Below us, Dominic wrestled Victor to the ground.
The gun skidded across the concrete.
Victor reached for it.
Dominic struck his wrist away and pinned him against the floor.
Then he stopped.
He could have killed Victor.
I saw it in his face.
Instead, Dominic grabbed the gun, threw it beyond reach, and ordered his men to take the traitor alive.
Victor was dragged away, screaming threats that grew fainter with every step.
The warehouse fell silent.
Dominic climbed the stairs toward us.
He knelt beside Rosie.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
Then she reached for his hand.
“You came back for me.”
Dominic swallowed.
“Yes.”
Rosie looked at him very seriously.
“Then you're my friend now.”
The expression on his face nearly broke me.
He bowed his head and pressed her little hand between both of his.
“I'd be honored, Rosie.”
Outside, sirens approached.
For the first time in years, I felt the future opening in front of us.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
He answered.
Bruno's voice came through.
“Boss, Victor has been arrested. We found evidence linking him to every attack.”
“Good.”
“But there's something else.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“What?”
Bruno hesitated.
“The investigators found another name in the financial records. Someone who has been paying Victor for years.”
“Who?”
Bruno gave him the name.
Dominic went completely still.
It was the one person none of us had suspected.
May you like
Isabella Moretti.
His own mother.
