Chapter 10 - The Unbreakable Vow
The evening shadows stretched long across the manicured lawns of the Moretti estate as a heavy, matte-black sedan crept silently along the perimeter fence, its headlights extinguished. Inside the car, Salvatore checked the magazine of his silenced pistol, his men adjusting their tactical gear in the backseat.
"Wait for the night patrol to rotate," Salvatore whispered, his eyes fixed on the lighted windows of the west wing where Clara and Lily were staying. "We take the girl. When Lucas realizes his little savior is gone, he’ll come crawling to us on his knees."
They didn't know that Lucas Moretti was never a man who crawled. And they certainly didn't know that the security protocols protecting the mansion had been doubled since Victor’s betrayal.
Inside the playroom on the second floor, Lucas was seated cross-legged on the carpet, meticulously snapping red and blue plastic bricks together to finish a towering castle. Lily clapped her hands with delight as the final spire clicked into place.
"You're really good at this, Mr. Moretti!" Lily cheered.
Lucas smiled, a rare, unguarded expression that made him look less like a feared Mafia boss and more like the father he was meant to be. He reached out to adjust a flagpole on the castle, but suddenly, his hand froze.
Through the open window, carried on the gentle evening breeze, came a faint, metallic click—the unmistakable sound of a heavy wire cutter snapping through the security fence perimeter down by the rose garden.
Lucas’s eyes instantly hardened. The warmth vanished from his face, replaced by the lethal, calculating predator who ruled the East Coast underworld.
"Lily," Lucas said, his voice entirely calm, though his muscles were coiled like steel springs. "Go to your mother in the kitchen right now. Tell her to lock the panic room door and not open it for anyone except me."
Lily blinked, sensing the sudden shift in his demeanor. "Mr. Moretti... what's wrong?"
"Nothing, sweetheart," Lucas lied gently, standing up in a fluid motion and stepping toward the hidden wall panel where his tactical sidearm was secured. "Just a few uninvited guests. Stay inside, and I’ll be right back."
May you like
As Lily scurried out of the room, Lucas pulled a heavy, suppressed automatic pistol from the wall safe, checking the chamber with a crisp, practiced snap. He walked to the window, peering down into the moonlit gardens where three shadowy figures were slipping past the rose bushes.
A cold, deadly smirk touched his lips. They thought they were coming to hunt a little girl. They had no idea they had just walked into a slaughterhouse.
