Chapter 8 - The Reckoning
Bursting out into the autumn chill of the Westchester woods, I pulled Leo behind a thick cluster of oak trees. Sirens wailed in the distance—state police and loyal Moretti enforcers converging on the estate from all directions.
Gunfire echoed from the main house. A plume of black smoke billowed from the second-story window of the east wing.
Suddenly, a black SUV roared down the dirt access road, stopping skidding inches from the treeline. The rear door flew open, and Ricardo stepped out, his suit jacket torn, blood on his collar, and a fierce, terrifying fury burning in his eyes.
"Leo!" Ricardo shouted over the noise.
"Papa!" the boy screamed, breaking away from me and running across the grass.
Ricardo dropped to his knees, scooping his son into his arms and crushing him against his chest as if he would never let go. For a long moment, the chaos of the world stopped spinning around them.
Then, Ricardo stood up, walking toward me with long, purposeful strides. When he reached me, he didn't say a word. He simply pulled me into his arms alongside his son, holding both of us so tightly I could feel the violent trembling in his frame.
"You're safe," Ricardo whispered into my hair. "You saved him."
"We survived it together," I murmured against his shoulder.
A few yards away, Dante dragged a battered Salvatore Rossi out of the woods, shoving the traitor onto the gravel at Ricardo’s feet.
Ricardo handed Leo gently back to me, telling Dante to take the boy inside. Then, he turned to face Salvatore. The temperature in the clearing dropped below freezing.
"You crossed the line," Ricardo said softly, stepping toward Salvatore with deadly calm. "You touched my family."
"You went soft, Moretti!" Salvatore spat blood onto the gravel. "A civilian changed you! You're not fit to lead—"
May you like
"I am stronger now than I have ever been," Ricardo interrupted, his voice cutting through the night air.
Within minutes, federal agents and local authorities arrived, having been tipped off by Ricardo’s legal team regarding Salvatore’s RICO violations. Salvatore and his remaining loyalists were hauled away in handcuffs, neutralized once and for all.
