Chapter 6 - The Unraveling of the Outfit
Two weeks after Elise’s ultimatum, the fragile peace of the Lake Forest estate was put to the ultimate test.
We had kept our end of the bargain. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. sharp, I sat at the head of the formal dining table, eating simple home-cooked meals with Elise while Maisie and Rosie sat in their high chairs, banging spoons against the mahogany wood and laughing hysterically whenever Elise made funny faces.
For the first time since Elena’s death, the dining room felt alive.
Yet, outside our iron gates, the war with Salvatore’s Outfit was escalating rapidly.
Luca burst into my study late on a freezing Thursday night, slamming a decoded wiretap transcript onto my desk.
"Boss, we have a major leak," Luca said, his face grim. "Salvatore didn't just stumble upon our shipping routes. Someone inside our core financial division has been selling our manifest schedules to the North Side crew."
I looked up from the ledger, my eyes narrowing into cold slits. "Who?"
"Marcus Vance," Luca replied. "Your head of corporate compliance. He wired half a million dollars to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands yesterday morning."
Marcus Vance. A man who had served under me for eight years, whose wedding I had attended, whose family I had protected during the 2019 dock wars.
Betrayal. The one sin that could never be forgiven.
"Where is he now?" I asked softly, pulling the Beretta from my holster and checking the slide.
"He’s scheduled to attend the corporate board meeting at our downtown high-rise tomorrow morning," Luca said. "Salvatore is planning an ambush. They’re going to hit the building during the meeting to eliminate you and take over the shipping lanes in one clean sweep."
I stood up slowly, grabbing my coat. "Then we’ll be waiting for them."
"Boss," Luca hesitated, looking at me with genuine concern. "What about the estate? If Salvatore knows we're walking into an ambush downtown, he might send a tactical strike team to Lake Forest to hit the softest targets."
My blood ran cold.
My daughters.
May you like
Elise.
"Luca," I ordered, my voice dropping into an absolute, razor-sharp command. "Take half the enforcers and secure the estate immediately. If a single fly crosses that perimeter without clearance, burn them to ash. I’m handling Marcus downtown, and then I’m coming home."
