Chapter 4 - The Whispers on the Glass
The failed attack on the Romano estate triggered a massive shockwave through the Chicago underworld.
The "Commission"—the secret council of the five major mafia families—called for an emergency summit. They wanted to know why the Moretti family had launched an unauthorized war on Luca’s territory, and they wanted to see the "witness" who had exposed the assassination plot at the gala.
They demanded that Luca present Ava and Mila to the council to verify her story.
"You cannot go," Luca said, pacing his private study the night before the summit. His face was tense, his hand resting on the hilt of a hidden blade. "The Commission is a viper's nest. They will try to find any excuse to deem you and Mila a liability. If they decide you are a threat to our secrets, they will demand your elimination."
"We are going, Luca," Ava said, standing tall in a stunning, high-necked black velvet gown. She looked regal, her hair pinned up, her eyes flashing with determination. "If we hide, we look guilty. If we show them we are not afraid, they cannot touch us without starting a full-scale war with you."
"And Mila?" Luca asked, his voice softening.
"Mila wants to go," Ava said. "She told me she wants to help her new dad."
Luca’s heart swelled at the word Dad. He walked over to Ava, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. "I will protect you both with my life. If any of them so much as looks at either of you the wrong way, I will burn this city to the ground."
The summit was held in a private, subterranean vault beneath an exclusive, historic bank in downtown Chicago.
Five older men, the heads of the most powerful families, sat around a massive round table. The air was thick with the smell of expensive cigars and old, bloody secrets.
At the head of the table sat Don Marcello Moretti, the patriarch of the family that had targeted Luca. His eyes were cold, calculating, and filled with a bitter hatred.
"So," Don Marcello sneered, looking at Ava and Mila as they entered, flanked by Luca and his security. "This is the waitress and her deaf child. We are expected to believe that an eight-year-old girl uncovered a complex security operation simply by 'reading lips'?"
"She did," Luca said, his voice low and dangerous as he took his seat, keeping Ava and Mila standing securely behind him. "And she saved my life. Which means your men are incompetent, Marcello."
"It's a lie!" Marcello slammed his hand on the table. "This is a play by the Romanos to frame my family and seize our shipping ports! The girl is a plant! I demand she prove her 'gift' right now, or she and her mother are executed for treason against the Commission!"
A murmur of agreement passed through the other dons.
"Very well," Ava said, stepping forward, her voice ringing out clearly in the silent vault. She looked at Mila, nodding gently. "Mila, look at the men at the far end of the room."
At the far corner of the vault, two of Marcello's personal bodyguards were whispering quietly, their heads turned away from the table.
Mila stepped forward, her small face completely serious. She watched the two men's mouths with intense focus for a few seconds.
MILA'S TEST
[Mila translates the guards' whispered conversation.]
Mila: "The man with the gray hair is saying...
'The bomb is already in the garage.'
And the other man is saying...
'As soon as Marcello gives the signal,
we blow the Romano cars.'"
The vault went dead silent.
Luca’s security team immediately drew their weapons, pointing them directly at Marcello and his guards. The other dons jumped to their feet, their own security teams drawing weapons in a massive, chaotic Mexican standoff.
"You traitorous bastard!" Don Lucchese, the oldest of the dons, roared at Marcello. "You brought a bomb to a Commission summit?!"
"It's a lie! The girl is making it up!" Marcello screamed, his face turning pale as his own guards began to panic.
"My security is already checking the garage, Marcello," Luca said, his voice chillingly calm as he stood up, drawing his own gold-plated pistol and aiming it directly between Marcello’s eyes. "If they find so much as a wire... you die where you sit."
Two seconds later, Luca’s earpiece buzzed.
"Package located and neutralized, Boss," his head of security reported.
Luca smiled—a cold, terrifying smile that promised absolute ruin.
"The girl is correct, gentlemen," Luca announced to the room. "Marcello tried to eliminate all of us tonight to take over the city."
The other dons looked at Marcello with deep, murderous disgust.
"Take him," Don Lucchese ordered his men. "The Moretti family is stripped of their territory. Luca... the girl and her mother are under the protection of the Commission. Anyone who touches them, touches all of us."
May you like
As Marcello was dragged out of the room screaming, Luca turned to Ava and Mila. He knelt, pulling Mila into a tight, emotional hug.
"You did it again, little princess," he whispered, his eyes shining with pride. "You saved us all."
