Chapter 5 - The Ghost of the Past
The peace was a fragile illusion, shattered exactly one week later. Dante was sitting at the head of the boardroom table, surrounded by his top lieutenants, mapping out a hostile takeover of the shipping docks.
Enzo burst into the room, bypassing all protocol. He leaned down, whispering urgently into Dante’s ear. “Boss. We have a problem. It’s about the girl's father.”
Dante’s blood ran instantly cold. He raised a hand, silencing the room, and stepped out into the hallway with Enzo. “The file said he was dead. A heart attack at thirty.”
“The file lied,” Enzo said grimly, handing Dante a tablet with a paused security feed. “He faked his death to escape the Romanov debt. He’s been hiding out in Detroit. But word got out that you wiped out the Romanov collectors and moved his wife and kid into your estate. He thinks he just struck gold.”
Dante stared at the paused image of Marco Silva. The man in the photograph Elena spoke to every night wasn't a tragic ghost; he was a coward who had abandoned his family to starve while he saved his own skin.
“He contacted the Falcone family,” Enzo continued, naming Dante’s most bitter rivals. “He sold them information. He told them exactly why you wiped out the Romanovs. The Falcones now know you have a soft spot for the maid. They are planning to use Marco to lure Maria out of the compound.”
May you like
Dante’s eyes darkened into a void of pure malice. He handed the tablet back to Enzo. “Double the perimeter guards. No one leaves the estate. If Marco Silva sets foot in Chicago, I don't want him questioned. I don't want him intimidated. I want him brought directly to my soundproof basement.”
The underworld thought Dante Caruso was softening because he took in a child. They were about to discover that giving a monster something to protect only made him infinitely more lethal.
