Chapter 8 - THE RECKONING AT DAWN
The rain had stopped by 5:00 a.m.
At an abandoned gravel quarry outside the city, a single black sedan sat with its headlights illuminating a deep pit.
Don Carmine Moretti sat on his knees at the edge of the pit, his hands bound behind his back with iron chains, his face battered and bruised.
Standing behind him was Vincent Moretti, smoking a quiet cigarette in the cool morning air.
Marco stood beside the trunk of the sedan, holding a heavy shovel.
"Vincent... please..." Carmine begged, his voice high-pitched and pathetic as he wept into the dirt. "We're blood! I raised you after your father died! You can't kill your own uncle!"
Vincent took a slow drag from his cigarette, exhaling a plume of white smoke into the cold air.
"You killed Julian," Vincent said softly. "You tried to murder his wife. You sent hitmen to slaughter an eight-year-old child in her sleep."
"I was desperate!" Carmine sobbed. "Julian was going to ruin everything I built!"
Vincent stepped up behind his uncle, pulling his suppressed Sig Sauer pistol from his holster.
"You didn't build this empire, Carmine," Vincent said, placing the cold steel barrel against the back of Carmine's head. "My father built it. Julian died for it. And now... I'm going to cleanse it."
"PLEASE! NO—"
BANG.
Carmine’s body went limp, falling forward into the dark pit below.
Vincent stood at the edge for a moment, watching the dirt cover his uncle's grave. He threw his cigarette into the pit, turned around, and walked back to the car.
"Clean it up, Marco," Vincent ordered quietly. "Then erase every record of Carmine Moretti's existence from the family ledgers."
"Consider it done, Boss," Marco nodded respectfully.
Vincent opened the rear door of the sedan and sat inside. He picked up his phone and dialed the Greenwich penthouse.
After two rings, a soft, tired voice answered.
"Vincent?"
Hearing Elena's voice made the dark, violent tension in Vincent's shoulders melt away completely.
"It's done, Elena," Vincent whispered softly into the receiver. "Carmine is gone. The threat is eliminated. You and Lily are free."
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, followed by the soft sound of Elena weeping tears of pure relief.
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"Come home, Vincent," Elena whispered gently. "Please... come home to us."
Vincent closed his eyes, a genuine, warm smile finally spreading across his face. "I'm on my way."
