Chapter 7 - THE SHADOW OF MORETTI
Two weeks passed like a sweet, dreamlike haze.
Tessa spent her mornings designing magnificent floral arrangements for the estate, transforming the stone halls into vibrant, fragrant gardens of white lilies, red peonies, and purple iris. Her evenings were spent with Gael—talking, eating dinner, and sharing their quiet hour of physical peace.
Slowly, the ice around Gael’s heart began to melt. He laughed for the first time in years. He slept three hours a night on the sofa in her sitting room while she read books beside him.
The entire household noticed the change. Marco looked less stressed, the servants moved with lighter steps, and Gael’s ruthless reputation in the business world became tempered by a newfound, calm authority.
However, in the dark underbelly of the city, danger was breeding.
Donati Moretti, the ruthless leader of the rival Moretti crime family, sat in a dimly lit warehouse in Brooklyn, staring at photographs spread across a table.
The photos showed Tessa Reed leaving the Costa Estate in her newly repaired car, entering her mother's care facility, and smiling alongside Gael in the glass conservatory.
"So," Donati sneered, his yellowed teeth flashing in the dark. "The untouchable Costa ghost finally has a weakness. A little flower girl from Harlem."
"She stays at his estate every night, boss," a lieutenant reported. "Gael has four security teams watching her mother's hospital."
"Gael took three of my shipping yards last week," Donati growled, slamming his fist onto the table. "He ruined my business. Now I ruin his world. Grab the girl."
"Boss, Gael will kill us all if we touch her," the lieutenant warned, shivering.
"Not if we use her to force him to sign over the Costa Logistics docks," Donati grinned maniacally. "Bring her to the abandoned ironworks at Pier 42 tonight."
That evening, rain lashed against the windows of the estate once again.
Tessa was driving her hatchback back from visiting her mother at the hospital. The street was dark, quiet, and slick with rain as she turned down a secluded boulevard near the park.
Suddenly, a heavy black SUV slammed directly into the driver's side of her car!
CRASH!
Metal screeched as Tessa’s hatchback spun out of control, slamming hard against a light pole. Her airbag deployed with a deafening bang, filling the cabin with white smoke.
Dazed, bleeding from a small cut on her forehead, Tessa tried to open her door, but it was jammed tight.
Before she could reach for her phone, the glass of her passenger window exploded inward. A man in a ski mask reached inside, unlocked the door, and hauled her roughly out into the freezing rain.
"Get her in the van! Fast!" a voice barked.
Tessa fought back wildly, kicking and screaming with all her strength. "Let me go! Help!"
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She managed to pull off her shoe and strike one of the men across the face, but another man grabbed her wrists from behind, pinning her arms, throwing a heavy black sack over her head.
They shoved her into the back of a speeding van, slamming the doors shut as the vehicle sped off into the dark, rainy night.
