Chapter 4 - The Serpent Stirs
By morning, the news of Dominic Moretti’s sudden departure from the restaurant and the lockdown of Bellini’s had reached the upper echelons of the Moretti crime family.
In a smoky boardroom in Cicero, Matteo Moretti—Dominic’s ambitious and ruthless cousin—stared at a collection of surveillance photographs sent by an informant. The photos showed Elena and the three children entering Dominic’s private penthouse.
"Who is the woman?" Matteo asked, leaning over the table, a cigar burning between his fingers.
"It’s his ex-wife, Elena," an associate replied. "The one old Vincent banished five years ago. And those kids... Matteo, they look exactly like Dominic. They’re triplets. They’re his blood."
Matteo’s face contorted into a mask of pure malice. "Triplets? Legitimate heirs to the shipping empire? If Dominic solidifies his line, the board will never vote me into the chairmanship. The old guards are traditionalists—they want a direct lineage."
He slammed his fist onto the table. "Find out where they’ve been hiding for five years. Find out who helped her run. And prepare the men. If Dominic thinks he can hide his new family in a glass tower, he’s about to find out that glass shatters very easily."
Back at the penthouse, Dominic was sitting on the floor, awkwardly holding a plastic toy truck that Noah had handed him. The little boy was quiet, unlike his brother Caleb, but he seemed to trust Dominic instinctively.
"Do you know how to make it go fast?" Noah asked, pointing to the wheels.
Dominic, a man who controlled a multi-billion-dollar logistics network, looked at the toy as if it were a complex piece of military hardware. "You have to pull it back first," he said gently, demonstrating the friction motor. The truck zoomed across the hardwood floor, causing Noah to let out a bright, joyful giggle.
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Elena watched them from the kitchen island, a faint smile touching her lips for the first time in years. But the peace was shattered when Gabriel’s voice echoed through Dominic’s earpiece.
"Dominic, we have a breach in the digital security. Someone just pulled Elena’s old medical records from the hospital in Wisconsin. It’s Matteo. He knows."
