Chapter 10 - The Wedding of the Century
Two weeks later, the front page of the Chicago Tribune featured a photograph that shocked the financial and political elite of the Midwest.
The wedding of Dante Moretti and Vivienne Cross was held at St. Jude’s Cathedral, surrounded by federal judges, rival syndicate bosses, municipal politicians, and armed security guards stationed every ten feet.
There was no tension. No hidden weapons. Just two powerful families sealing an empire in stone.
At the reception inside the grand ballroom of the Moretti estate, the crystal chandeliers cast a brilliant, warm glow over hundreds of guests drinking champagne beneath sprawling arches of white roses.
Dante stood near the head table in a sharp, tailored tuxedo, holding a six-month-old baby dressed in a miniature white bowtie. Leo was babbling happily, grabbing at the lapel of Dante’s jacket with chubby, healthy fingers.
Beside him stood Vivienne, wearing a breathtaking gown of silk and lace, her auburn hair cascading in soft waves over her shoulders.
Sal Mercer walked up, holding a glass of scotch, grinning broadly.
"Well, boss," Sal said, raising his glass. "I never thought I'd see the day Dante Moretti traded his pistol for a baby rattle."
"Neither did I," Dante admitted, looking down at his nephew, then turning his gaze to his new wife.
Vivienne caught his look, a rare, radiant smile breaking across her face—the kind of smile that made the cold, calculating surgeon vanish entirely, leaving only a woman who had fought through betrayal, blood, and shadows to find her home.
Dante wrapped his free arm around Vivienne’s waist, pulling her close against his side as the orchestra struck up a slow, beautiful waltz.
The war was over. The house was safe.
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And as Dante looked out across the crowded room of enemies turned allies, he knew that the best decisions of his life hadn't been made in boardrooms or tactical briefings.
They had been made the night his fiancée saved his blood, and he learned what it truly meant to have someone watching his back.
