Chapter 6 - Chloe Disappeared Before SunriseThe war lasted eleven weeks.
It was not fought publicly.
There were no dramatic shootouts in Times Square.
No newspaper headlines announcing Mafia armies.
Instead, businesses changed ownership.
Contracts vanished.
Politicians stopped answering calls.
Bank accounts were frozen.
Warehouses were raided.
Men who had spent decades believing themselves untouchable suddenly discovered that power depended entirely upon everyone around them continuing to believe in it.
Leo dismantled Salvatore Ricci piece by piece.
And Chloe watched the cost accumulate.
Leo slept less.
He spoke less.
Some nights he came home at four in the morning and stood beside Dominic’s crib for twenty minutes before removing his coat.
He never brought violence into the nursery.
That became an unspoken rule.
The world could burn outside.
Inside Dominic’s room, Leo was only his father.
By three months, Dominic had discovered smiling.
The first person he smiled at was Chloe.
The second was Thomas, one of the guards.
Leo pretended this did not bother him.
It clearly did.
“He smiles at everyone,” Chloe said.
“He does not smile at me.”
“You look angry when you’re happy.”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
Leo leaned over the crib.
Dominic stared at him.
Leo attempted a smile.
The result was terrifying.
Chloe burst out laughing.
Dominic did too.
Leo looked betrayed.
For a few minutes, the war disappeared.
Then Vincent entered.
“Boss.”
Leo straightened.
“What?”
“We found Ricci.”
Everything changed.
Ricci had been hiding in a farmhouse outside Albany.
Leo left that night.
Before leaving, he stood in Chloe’s doorway.
She held Dominic.
“Come back,” she said.
Leo looked at her.
“I always do.”
“Not good enough.”
He stepped closer.
Chloe reached up and touched his cheek.
“Come back as the man who promised me something different.”
His eyes closed briefly.
Then he kissed her.
Slowly.
Unlike their first kiss, there was no possession in it.
Only promise.
“I will.”
He left.
At 4:40 the following morning, Chloe woke to smoke.
The fire alarm did not sound.
That was the first thing she noticed.
The second was Dominic crying.
Chloe jumped from bed.
Smoke curled beneath the nursery door.
Her heart stopped.
She ran.
The hallway was already filling with black smoke.
“Dominic!”
She covered her mouth and rushed into the nursery.
The baby was screaming in his crib.
Flames had not reached the room yet.
Chloe grabbed him.
A window shattered downstairs.
Someone shouted.
Then gunfire.
Not again.
Chloe wrapped Dominic in a blanket.
The hidden safe-room passage was across the hallway.
She opened her bedroom door.
Smoke poured inside.
A man appeared through it.
Not one of Leo’s guards.
He wore a respirator.
Chloe slammed the door.
A bullet punched through the wood.
She screamed and dropped behind the bed, shielding Dominic.
The door burst open.
The man entered.
Chloe saw the weapon.
She saw his gloved hand.
She saw death.
Then the attacker collapsed.
Thomas stood behind him.
A pistol smoked in his hand.
“Move!”
Chloe ran.
Thomas pushed her toward the stairs.
“Safe room!”
“Too much smoke.”
“Then west exit.”
They moved through the corridor.
Another armed man appeared.
Thomas fired.
The man disappeared behind a wall.
“Go!”
Chloe ran barefoot down the servants’ staircase.
Dominic screamed against her chest.
Outside, snow had begun melting into spring mud.
She burst through the west door.
A black SUV waited.
The driver opened the rear door.
“Miss Chloe!”
She recognized him.
Anthony.
One of Leo’s oldest guards.
She climbed inside.
Thomas jumped into the passenger seat.
The vehicle accelerated.
Only after they passed the gates did Chloe breathe.
“What happened?”
Thomas turned.
“Ricci’s people. They must know Leo left.”
“Where are we going?”
“Secondary property.”
Chloe looked down at Dominic.
His face was red from crying.
She kissed his forehead.
“It’s okay.”
But it was not.
Something bothered her.
The estate attack had been too easy.
Again.
And then she noticed Thomas.
His shoulders were rigid.
His right hand remained near his weapon.
He was not looking at Anthony.
Chloe met his eyes in the mirror.
Thomas gave the smallest shake of his head.
Do not speak.
Her blood chilled.
Anthony turned off the highway.
Thomas said casually, “Secondary house is east.”
“Roadblock.”
“There wasn’t one on the security feed.”
Anthony’s eyes moved toward the mirror.
Silence.
Thomas drew first.
Anthony slammed the brakes.
The SUV spun.
Chloe screamed and curled around Dominic.
Gunfire exploded inside the vehicle.
Glass shattered.
The SUV struck something hard.
Airbags deployed.
Then silence.
Chloe’s ears rang.
Dominic screamed.
She tasted blood.
“Thomas?”
No answer.
Smoke drifted through the cabin.
The rear door opened.
Hands seized Chloe.
She kicked.
“Get off me!”
Someone ripped Dominic from her arms.
“No!”
The scream that left Chloe did not sound human.
She attacked blindly.
Nails.
Teeth.
Fists.
Someone struck her.
The world flashed white.
She fell.
The last thing she heard before darkness took her was Dominic crying somewhere beyond her reach.
When Chloe woke, she was on a concrete floor.
Her wrists were bound.
Her head throbbed.
She opened her eyes.
An old warehouse.
Rain struck the metal roof.
And ten feet away, Salvatore Ricci held her son.
He was in his sixties.
Silver-haired.
Expensively dressed.
He smiled.
“Mrs. Moretti.”
Chloe’s stomach turned.
“We’re not married.”
Ricci looked at Dominic.
“Not officially.”
“Give me my son.”
“He is remarkably calm.”
“Give him to me.”
Ricci approached.
Dominic was awake.
His tiny face was confused.
Chloe fought against the restraints.
“If you hurt him—”
“You will what?”
Ricci crouched.
“You misunderstand your position.”
Chloe stared at him.
“No.”
Her voice became quiet.
“You misunderstand yours.”
Ricci smiled.
“You think Leo is coming.”
“I know he is.”
“He’s three hours away.”
“He’ll come.”
“And that is precisely why you’re here.”
Chloe understood.
She was bait.
Dominic was bait.
Ricci stood.
“Leo Moretti destroyed everything I built over forty years.”
“He should have destroyed you faster.”
Ricci slapped her.
Pain exploded across her cheek.
Dominic began crying.
Chloe slowly turned her face back.
She tasted blood.
Then she smiled.
Ricci’s expression changed.
“You’re dead.”
May you like
She said it with absolute certainty.
“You just don’t know when yet.”
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