Chapter 4 - THE CASTELLANO STRIKE
Two weeks passed.
Life inside the Moretti estate changed drastically. The dark, oppressive atmosphere that had gripped the house for three years slowly began to dissipate.
Laughter echoed down the marble corridors again. Leo, who was now learning to stand while holding onto furniture, spent his mornings crawling around the grand living room, chased by Dominic, who had somehow become the baby's unofficial bodyguard and entertainer.
Silana spent more time at home. He moved his primary operations from his downtown office to his home study so he could have lunch with Bella and Leo every day.
Bella began to see the real man behind the mob persona. Silana was intelligent, deeply cultured, loved classical piano, and treated his staff with fairness and strict loyalty. In turn, Bella introduced him to simple joys: homemade pasta recipes, laughing at Leo’s messy eating habits, and late-night conversations by the fireplace where they shared stories of their childhoods.
A quiet, unspoken romance began to bloom between them. It was built on mutual healing—Bella gave Silana a reason to feel alive again, and Silana gave Bella the absolute security she had lacked her entire life.
However, outside the high stone walls of the estate, storm clouds were gathering.
The Castellano family, led by the ruthless Don Victor Castellano, had learned about the capture of Lorenzo, their secret informant inside the Moretti organization. Victor Castellano realized his plan to cripple Silana from the inside was failing.
In a dark warehouse near the Chicago river, Victor Castellano sat across a metal table from a nervous, scrawny man in a dirty leather jacket.
It was David Miller.
"You're sure she's there?" Victor Castellano rasped, swirling a glass of cheap whiskey.
"I swear it, Don Victor!" David Miller stammered, sweating nervously. "I followed my old buddy from the docks. He said Bella got a job as a maid in the Moretti mansion! And she took my kid with her!"
Victor Castellano’s lips twisted into a wicked, yellow-toothed smile.
"Silana Moretti has taken a maid and her bastard child into his private third-floor suite," Victor mused, his dark eyes gleaming with malicious intent. "My sources inside his estate say he treats the boy like his own dead son Mateo."
"He's taking care of my kid?!" David spat bitterly, a wave of pathetic jealousy washing over him. "That kid is my blood!"
"Your blood just became our ultimate weapon, David," Victor said, slamming his hand on the table. "Silana Moretti lost his wife and child to us three years ago. If we take this child and the girl... we will break Silana's mind once and for all. He will surrender the Southside shipping ports just to get them back."
May you like
David grinned greedily. "What's in it for me?"
"Five hundred thousand dollars," Victor said coldly. "And a ticket out of the country. All you have to do is help my men get through the estate’s domestic service entrance."
