Chapter 14 - ONE LAST FAMILY MEETING
Dominic was transported from federal detention under armed escort.
Vittorio’s message gave a location beneath the old Russo funeral home.
The building had been closed after the network collapsed.
Its basement contained the room where generations of Russo leaders settled disputes without police.
A family court with no law.
Vittorio wanted to restore the old order one last time.
Agent Reyes fitted Dominic with a microphone.
“You follow instructions.”
“I bring Luca out.”
“You do not pursue Vittorio.”
Dominic looked at him.
“If I have the choice?”
“You let us arrest him.”
Dominic nodded.
Chloe did not believe him.
She caught him before he entered the transport vehicle.
“Luca asked you to sit far.”
“I remember.”
“He did not ask you to die for him.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Dominic looked at her.
“I spent my life believing protection meant destroying whatever threatened my family.”
“What does it mean now?”
“Coming back.”
The answer eased something inside her.
The funeral home stood silent beneath winter rain.
Dominic entered alone.
The basement lights revealed a long wooden table.
Portraits of dead Russo men covered the walls.
Vittorio sat at the head.
Luca was tied to a chair beside him.
The boy’s face was bruised.
But he was awake.
“Daddy.”
Dominic stopped.
“I’m here.”
Vittorio smiled.
“At last.”
“What do you want?”
“A confession.”
“You have hundreds.”
“Not to the government.”
Vittorio pointed toward the portraits.
“To them.”
Dominic looked at the dead men who built the empire.
“I owe them nothing.”
“You carry their name.”
“Names are not debts.”
Vittorio’s expression hardened.
“You let women dismantle what generations created.”
“Elena exposed what generations hid.”
“You surrendered to men who once feared you.”
“They should have arrested me years ago.”
“You speak like a broken man.”
Dominic looked at Luca.
“No.”
“Like one who finally knows what he broke.”
Vittorio placed a gun on the table.
“Kill Agent Reyes when he enters.”
“Take back the organization.”
“I release Luca.”
Dominic laughed quietly.
“You have no organization.”
“Men still answer me.”
“Because they are paid.”
“They answered you for the same reason.”
The truth angered Vittorio.
He had always called transactions loyalty.
Dominic continued.
“You never loved this family.”
“You loved being obeyed by it.”
Vittorio struck Luca.
Dominic moved.
The gun pressed against the boy’s head.
“Sit.”
Dominic sat at the far end of the table.
Exactly the distance Luca had once chosen.
Vittorio began describing how he shaped Dominic.
Encouraged his temper.
Removed advisers who questioned him.
Created enemies.
Turned grief into violence.
“You were my finest work.”
Dominic looked toward Luca.
“My son will not be.”
Outside, Reyes’s team entered the upper floor.
Vittorio heard movement.
He pulled Luca from the chair.
A hidden door opened behind him.
Dominic overturned the table.
Gunfire erupted.
Vittorio dragged Luca into the tunnel.
Dominic followed.
The microphone signal failed underground.
Chloe watched from the command van.
Then she heard Luca through a second device.
The gray wolf contained a tracker.
Chloe had sewn it inside months earlier after the estate attack.
Vittorio had unknowingly returned the toy with Luca.
The tunnel ended near the Chicago River.
A speedboat waited.
Vittorio climbed aboard with Luca.
Dominic jumped from the dock.
He struck Vittorio before the boat moved.
The gun fell into the water.
Luca crawled toward the rear.
Vittorio wrapped a chain around Dominic’s throat.
“You could have ruled this city.”
Dominic struggled.
“My son is worth more.”
Luca grabbed the emergency flare gun.
His hands shook.
“Daddy!”
Dominic looked at him.
“Don’t shoot.”
Even while choking, he protected Luca from becoming part of the violence.
“Put it down.”
Luca did.
That choice saved him.
Reyes’s team reached the dock.
Vittorio pulled a knife.
Dominic trapped his wrist.
For one second, he could have pushed his uncle into the freezing river.
Instead, he held him until agents arrived.
Vittorio was arrested again.
This time, no compromised guard would reach him.
Dominic lifted Luca from the boat.
The boy wrapped both arms around his neck.
Dominic froze.
Then held him carefully.
Not tightly.
Not possessively.
Luca whispered, “You came back.”
“Yes.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“I came back.”
Chloe reached them moments later.
She checked Luca for injuries.
Then looked at Dominic.
Blood ran from his neck.
“You kept your promise.”
He nodded.
“Coming back.”
Before federal officers returned him to custody, Luca took the gray wolf and placed it in Dominic’s hands.
“For jail.”
Dominic stared at the toy.
“You need him.”
Luca shook his head.
“You need.”
Dominic held the wolf against his chest.
May you like
The most feared man in Chicago was taken away carrying a worn stuffed animal.
And for the first time, nobody mistook fear for respect.
