Chapter 4 - The Uncle’s Shadow
Within an hour, Dominic's private security team had secured my apartment building. Two black armored SUVs sat idling on the street below.
Dominic stood by my kitchen window, speaking into his encrypted phone in low, commanding Italian.
"Marco," he barked into the receiver. "Freeze all internal administrative accounts managed by Victor Moretti. Shut down access to the south warehouse complex immediately. Put a detail on Gary Vance in HR. Do not let him leave his house."
He ended the call and turned back to me.
"You and Lily are coming to the estate," Dominic stated calmly, grabbing my coat from the chair.
"Dominic, wait," I said, stepping into his path. "I've spent my entire life living quietly. I don't want a mafia war. I don't want thirty-five percent of a corporate empire. I just want my job back so I can raise my daughter."
Dominic stepped closer, his presence commanding yet surprisingly reassuring. He placed a large, warm hand on my shoulder.
"You didn't ask for this bloodline, Anna, but it's yours," he said with absolute conviction. "My father spent the last years of his life trying to protect you from the darker sides of our family. Victor stripped you of your name and your inheritance. He put my niece in a position where she had to ride two subway lines alone just to demand justice for her mother."
He looked down at Lily, who was busy putting her stuffed rabbit into a small backpack.
"In our family, we do not allow people to make our children cry," Dominic added softly. "You're coming home, Anna. Where Victor can't touch you."
By 4:00 PM, the armored convoy pulled through the massive wrought-iron gates of the Moretti estate in upstate New York. Long green lawns stretched toward an imposing limestone mansion surrounded by stone walls and high-tech security towers.
As the car pulled up to the grand front entrance, a middle-aged man in an expensive tailored suit stepped out onto the marble porch, flanked by two bodyguards.
It was Victor Moretti.
His face turned slick with sweat as he saw Dominic step out of the lead vehicle, followed by me and Lily.
"Dominic!" Victor called out, his voice laced with forced warmth as he descended the steps. "What is the meaning of this? Why are the warehouse servers locked down? I was in the middle of a major shipping audit!"
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Dominic walked up the marble steps slowly, his hands resting casually inside his coat pockets. He stopped two feet away from his uncle.
"The audit is over, Victor," Dominic said smoothly. "I just met my sister."
