CHAPTER 6 Can You Buy This Painting?” Billionaire Mafia froze because He Thought the Woman in the Painting Was Dead—Until Three Starving Triplets Asked Him to Save Their Mother
CHAPTER 6 — BLOOD FOR BLOOD
The city never learned about the war.
Boston woke beneath a gray sky, commuters filled the streets, cafés opened their doors, and children hurried to school as if nothing had changed.
But beneath the ordinary rhythm of the city...
Two empires were preparing to destroy each other.
One fought for power.
The other fought for family.
At exactly seven o'clock that morning, Dante Russo stood in the underground operations room beneath Russo Tower.
More than forty of his most trusted captains surrounded a massive digital map.
Red dots marked every known Moretti operation.
Blue dots represented Russo teams already in position.
Nico dimmed the lights.
"The paper bird was recovered an hour ago."
Every eye turned toward the screen.
The crude map Rose had drawn appeared enlarged.
"It isn't detailed," Nico continued, "but our analysts matched the curved driveway and fountain."
He tapped one location.
"The old Moretti estate."
One captain frowned.
"Too obvious."
Another nodded.
"It's exactly where we'd expect an ambush."
Dante remained silent.
Finally, he spoke.
"Victor wants me angry."
"He wants me to charge through the front gate."
He looked around the room.
"So we'll do something he won't expect."
Nico smiled.
"We cut off his empire first."
Three hours later...
South Boston Harbor.
Rows of shipping containers stretched toward the water.
To the public, Pier 19 handled imported construction materials.
To Victor Moretti...
It was the beating heart of his criminal network.
Counterfeit medicine.
Illegal weapons.
Human trafficking.
Money laundering.
Everything passed through the harbor.
A black cargo ship slowly approached the dock.
Victor's men waited to unload the containers.
They never noticed the longshoreman pushing a rusted toolbox across the pier.
He looked ordinary.
Until he removed his hard hat.
Nico.
He spoke quietly into the hidden microphone inside his collar.
"All teams ready."
One voice answered.
"Team Alpha in position."
Another.
"Bravo ready."
A third.
"Snipers standing by."
Nico looked toward the harbor entrance.
Then calmly said,
"Begin."
The first explosion wasn't large.
Just enough to destroy the dock's electrical transformer.
The entire harbor plunged into darkness.
A second later...
Floodlights mounted on surrounding rooftops snapped on.
Every Moretti guard suddenly found himself standing inside a sea of blinding white light.
"Contact!"
Gunfire erupted.
Russo's men emerged from every direction with disciplined precision.
Unlike Victor's soldiers, they weren't firing wildly.
Every movement had been rehearsed.
Every position planned.
Within seconds, the dock became a battlefield.
Dante wasn't there.
He had chosen another target.
Across town...
A gray delivery truck stopped beside a rundown pharmaceutical warehouse owned by one of Moretti's front companies.
Inside the truck sat Dante and six handpicked soldiers.
A young lieutenant looked nervous.
"Boss..."
"Why split our forces?"
Dante checked his watch.
"Because Victor will rush to defend the harbor."
"He'll think that's the attack."
The lieutenant understood.
"This is the real target."
Dante nodded once.
"Move."
The steel doors burst inward.
Armed guards shouted in surprise.
Too late.
Dante crossed the warehouse like a storm.
One attacker lunged forward with a knife.
Dante sidestepped effortlessly.
A single punch.
The man collapsed unconscious.
Another raised a rifle.
Before he could fire...
Dante disarmed him, twisted the weapon free, and slammed the rifle stock into his chest.
Chaos spread through the building.
Workers fled.
Criminals fought desperately.
Within minutes...
The warehouse belonged to Russo.
Nico's voice crackled over the radio.
"Harbor secured."
Dante answered calmly.
"Warehouse secured."
Then he noticed something strange.
Behind several stacks of counterfeit medicine stood a heavy steel door.
Locked from the outside.
He frowned.
"Open it."
A soldier fired twice at the lock.
The door swung open.
Inside...
Silence.
Then...
Soft crying.
Dante stepped inside.
His heartbeat slowed.
Twenty-three people.
Women.
Teenage girls.
Two little boys.
All imprisoned inside a hidden room.
One young mother clutched a sleeping infant wrapped in a dirty blanket.
No one moved.
They simply stared.
A woman finally whispered,
"Are you..."
"...with him?"
Dante understood immediately.
They thought he worked for Victor.
He slowly laid his pistol on the floor.
"My name is Dante Russo."
"I'm here to get you out."
The woman burst into tears.
Another collapsed to her knees.
A teenage girl hugged her younger brother so tightly he began crying too.
Dante looked toward his men.
"Call ambulances."
One soldier hesitated.
"Boss..."
"The police will come."
"They'll ask questions."
Dante's answer was immediate.
"I don't care."
"They go to hospitals."
"Today."
News of the rescue spread quickly through Boston's criminal underworld.
By sunset...
Every gang leader had heard the same story.
Russo wasn't taking territory.
He was freeing prisoners.
Some laughed.
Others called it weakness.
Victor Moretti did neither.
He stood in his study overlooking the rain-soaked gardens.
His adviser entered quietly.
"We lost the harbor."
Victor nodded.
"I know."
"The medicine warehouse too."
"I know."
"The captives were freed."
Victor remained silent.
His adviser frowned.
"Should we retaliate?"
Victor walked slowly toward the fireplace.
He stared into the flames for several moments.
Finally...
He smiled.
"Russo has changed."
"What do you mean?"
"He isn't fighting like a king anymore."
Victor's smile disappeared.
"He's fighting like a father."
That evening...
Russo Tower had become unusually lively.
The rescued children filled one floor with cautious laughter.
Doctors treated wounds.
Volunteers distributed clean clothes.
Lily and Daisy helped hand out coloring books.
A little boy refused to let go of Daisy's hand.
"I'm scared."
She smiled softly.
"My daddy says brave people can be scared."
The boy looked toward Dante across the room.
"That's your daddy?"
She nodded proudly.
"The best one."
Dante overheard.
For a moment...
The exhaustion vanished from his face.
Elena watched from the hallway.
She approached quietly.
"They already love you."
Dante looked toward the children.
"I've known them three days."
"You've loved them much longer."
He turned.
"I lost six years."
Elena took his hand.
"You didn't choose to."
"No."
His eyes darkened.
"But Victor did."
Silence settled between them.
Finally she whispered,
"Don't let revenge become more important than Rose."
He looked at her.
"It won't."
"I've already lost too much."
Late that night...
A secure phone rang inside Dante's office.
Only four people knew that number.
He answered immediately.
"Dante."
A familiar voice replied.
"Good evening."
Victor.
Neither man spoke for several seconds.
Finally Victor chuckled.
"You've been busy."
"You've been hiding."
"I've been observing."
Dante's voice remained calm.
"Release my daughter."
Victor laughed softly.
"You misunderstand."
"I've grown rather fond of Rose."
"I wasn't asking."
The room fell silent.
Then Victor said something unexpected.
"There was a time..."
"...when you and I wanted the same thing."
Dante frowned.
"I doubt that."
"We both wanted Elena."
Another pause.
"I simply refused to lose."
Dante's grip tightened around the phone.
"You never loved her."
"No."
Victor answered without hesitation.
"I loved defeating you."
He hung up.
Miles away...
Rose sat on the floor of her room, drawing quietly.
The bedroom door opened.
Victor stepped inside.
"I spoke with your father."
Rose looked up.
"What did he say?"
Victor smiled.
"He wants you back."
She nodded confidently.
"I know."
Victor crouched beside her.
"And if he never finds you?"
Rose continued coloring.
"He will."
"What makes you so sure?"
She finally met his eyes.
"Because every time I'm scared..."
"...I remember how he looked at me in the basement."
Victor's expression hardened.
"He wasn't afraid."
"He was."
Rose smiled gently.
"My daddy is brave because he's scared."
Victor froze.
The words struck him harder than he expected.
Not because of the child.
Because years ago...
Someone else had once said exactly the same thing.
Elena.
For the first time in many years...
Victor looked away.
Outside the mansion...
Hidden among the trees beyond the estate walls...
A tiny red light blinked once.
Then disappeared.
High-powered binoculars lowered slowly.
Nico whispered into his radio.
"I've confirmed visual."
He smiled.
"We found her."
Several hundred yards away, Dante listened through his earpiece without saying a word.
His eyes remained fixed on the distant mansion beyond the forest.
A father's promise had brought him this far.
Now...
May you like
Blood would answer for blood.
TO BE CONTINUED...
