CHAPTER 3: THE FAMILY BETRAYAL
The warehouse beneath the old harbor echoed with silence.
Anthony Moretti sat tied to a metal chair beneath a single hanging light.
Blood trickled from his split lip.
Across from him stood Dominic.
For the first time in decades, Boston's most feared man looked wounded.
Not angry.
Wounded.
"Start talking."
Anthony lowered his eyes.
"It wasn't supposed to happen like this."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
Rose sat nearby recovering under medical supervision while Lily slept in another room.
Every word Anthony spoke now mattered.
"My father started it."
Dominic froze.
Victor Moretti.
His older brother.
Dead for nearly twenty years.
Anthony continued.
"When Rose became pregnant, Victor believed you would leave the organization."
Dominic already knew that was true.
Rose had begged him to walk away.
And he had been preparing to do exactly that.
"Victor said the family would collapse without you. So he arranged the fire."
The room went silent.
Dominic's fists clenched.
Anthony continued through tears.
"The fire wasn't meant to kill her. It was meant to make her disappear."
Rose had survived.
But Victor's men had hidden her.
Moved her out of state.
Given her a new identity.
And convinced her Dominic had died in retaliation attacks shortly after the fire.
For years she searched.
For years Dominic searched.
Both manipulated.
Both grieving.
Both alone.
"When my father died, I found the records," Anthony admitted.
"You knew she was alive all these years?"
"Yes."
Dominic's voice was barely audible.
"Why?"
Anthony looked away.
"Because if you found Rose... you'd leave everything."
The truth landed harder than any gunshot.
Anthony had protected power.
Protected money.
Protected his future.
By keeping two innocent people apart.
For thirty years.
Dominic stared at his nephew.
The boy he had raised.
The boy he had trusted.
The betrayal cut deeper than any enemy could have managed.
Finally Dominic turned away.
"You're no longer a Moretti."
Anthony's face drained of color.
In the criminal world, those words were worse than a death sentence.
The family name had just been taken from him.
Forever.
Dominic walked toward the door.
May you like
Behind him Anthony began crying.
But Dominic never looked back.
