Chapter 5 - The Deal
“Daddy,” Lucia whispered into the phone.
There was a heavy, terrifying silence on the other end of the line.
“Lucia,” Salvatore Romano said, his voice rumbling like an approaching thunderstorm.
“Your husband’s men are currently moving through my territory.”
“Tell me why I shouldn't start a war right now.”
Lucia looked at her tiny daughter, sleeping peacefully inside the plastic incubator, completely unaware of the violence surrounding her.
“Because Dante just tried to assassinate your granddaughter in her hospital bed,” Lucia said.
The silence that followed was so absolute, the air in the room felt heavy.
“I will be there in five minutes,” Salvatore promised.
He hung up.
Lucia handed the phone back to Michael.
“We have to barricade these doors,” she told him.
Michael dragged two heavy medical supply carts in front of the NICU entrance.
Exactly five minutes later, the sound of heavy boots echoed down the hospital corridor.
Dozens of armed men wearing Romano syndicate colors flooded the hallway.
They pushed the carts aside, and Salvatore Romano stepped into the room.
He was sixty years old, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, with eyes as cold and grey as a winter ocean.
He looked at the dead nurse on the floor, and then he looked at his bleeding, exhausted daughter.
He did not hug her.
He walked straight to the incubator and stared down at the tiny infant.
“She has your mother’s nose,” Salvatore said softly.
He turned to face Lucia.
“Dante crossed a line that cannot be uncrossed.”
“My men are already burning his warehouses on the South Side.”
“By sunrise, there will not be a single Moretti breathing in this city.”
Lucia felt a surge of dark, vengeful satisfaction.
“I want him ruined,” she said.
Salvatore nodded approvingly.
“He will be.”
“But my protection comes with a price, Lucia.”
Lucia’s satisfaction vanished, replaced by a deep sense of dread.
She knew her father never gave anything away for free.
“What price?” she asked.
Salvatore pulled a private passport from his coat pocket.
“You are coming back to the family.”
“I have a plane waiting to take you to our compound in Sicily.”
“You will marry the son of the Corsican boss to strengthen our alliance.”
Lucia stared at the passport in absolute horror.
“I just had a baby,” she protested.
Salvatore looked at the incubator with zero emotion.
“The baby cannot travel in her condition.”
May you like
“She stays here in Chicago.”
“You leave tonight.”
