Chapter 5 - The War Council
The following morning at dawn, the heads of the five major sub-families of the Moretti syndicate arrived at the estate for an emergency war council.
The long conference table in the grand dining room was surrounded by powerful, battle-hardened men in expensive suits—capos who controlled the docks, the construction unions, the gambling dens, and the legitimate real estate across the state.
I sat at the head of the table, flanked by Marco.
Beside my leather chair, lying calmly on the hardwood floor, was Bruno.
The capos sneered nervously at the massive Cane Corso, keeping their distance as they took their seats.
“Gabriel,” spoke up Don Antonio, an older capo with silver hair who controlled the northern docks. “We heard about Viktor. Is it true? Was there a breach in our security?”
“Viktor was a turncoat working for Dominic Valenti,” I stated clearly, my voice ringing across the room. “He attempted to sell our financial codes and sabotage our estate.”
Murmurs of shock and anger rippled through the capos.
“How did you catch him?” asked Don Frank, a short, stocky man who managed our union funds. “Viktor was your most trusted logistics man. Who turned him in?”
I looked down at the massive black dog lying at my feet. Bruno raised his broad head, his dark eyes looking up at me with calm intelligence.
“Bruno caught him,” I said plainly.
Don Frank blinked in disbelief, then let out a rough laugh. “A dog? You’re telling us the entire security of the Moretti syndicate was saved by an animal?”
“The animal recognized a snake before any of us did,” I replied, leaning forward, resting my elbows on the table. “And more importantly... Bruno showed us where Valenti’s weakness lies.”
I pulled up a map of the city on the wall projector behind me, pointing to a large industrial shipyard along the river.
“Valenti paid Viktor through a shell company registered at Pier 42,” I explained. “That pier isn't just a shipping dock. It’s Valenti’s primary weapons storage hub for his entire northern operation. Tonight... we take it from him.”
Don Antonio frowned. “Valenti has forty armed men guarding that pier, Gabriel. It’s a fortress. Going in there without heavy firepower is suicide.”
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“We’re not going in with heavy firepower, Antonio,” I said, a dangerous, victorious smile creeping across my face. “We’re going in with surprise, precision... and an asset Valenti never accounted for.”
Bruno stood up from the floor, leaning his heavy chest against my knee, letting out a soft, low bark that echoed with absolute authority through the war room.
