Chapter 7 - The Moretti Alliance
The name Victor Moretti changed everything.
The Moretti family was the oldest, most powerful crime syndicate operating out of New York and northern New Jersey. For a decade, Gabriel Vale and Victor Moretti had maintained a cold, uneasy peace, dividing the Atlantic shipping ports and casino operations down the middle.
If Victor Moretti had ordered Gabriel’s assassination, it meant a full-scale mafia war was already underway.
By midnight, Gabriel’s inner circle had assembled in the library. Six high-ranking lieutenants—men who controlled the enforcement, financial, and logistics wings of Gabriel’s organization—sat around the grand walnut table.
Sadie sat directly at Gabriel’s right hand.
The lieutenants had initially looked at her with suspicion, wondering why a young woman in simple clothes was sitting in on a war council. But after Gabriel explicitly introduced her as the person who had saved his life and uncovered the conspiracy, nobody questioned her presence again.
“Moretti believes you are dead or dying,” said Dominic, a veteran lieutenant with graying hair and a heavily scarred face. “His men have already taken control of two warehouse districts in Port Alder tonight. They’re planning to hit our central distribution hub at Pier 14 tomorrow morning.”
“Let them think I’m dead,” Gabriel said calmly, leaning back in his chair. “Victor wants a war. I’m going to give him an execution.”
He turned to Sadie. “Sadie, you looked through the shipping manifest from Pier 14 yesterday. What did you notice?”
Sadie opened a thick leather ledger in front of her. Every eye at the table turned to her.
“Pier 14 doesn't just handle commercial freight,” Sadie explained, her voice steady and confident. “Three of the main storage docks are leased to an international textile importer based out of Brooklyn. The importer is a front company owned by Victor Moretti’s brother.”
Dominic frowned. “Textiles? What does that matter?”
“It matters because of the shipments,” Sadie said, pointing to a column of numbers in the ledger. “Every two weeks, four shipping containers marked 'Raw Cotton' arrive from South America. But the weight listed on the harbor crane manifests is forty percent heavier than cotton should be.”
Gabriel’s eyes gleamed with cold pride. “They’re smuggling heavy weapons inside the fabric crates.”
“Exactly,” Sadie nodded. “If Victor Moretti is planning to hit Pier 14 tomorrow morning, he isn't going there to destroy your property. He’s going there to retrieve his hidden armory before you realize it’s there.”
Gabriel looked around the table at his lieutenants. “Victor thinks he’s walking into an empty warehouse to collect his guns while my empire falls apart without me. Instead, he’s walking into an ambush.”
Dominic smiled, a dark, vicious expression. “We catch them inside the warehouse. No survivors.”
“No,” Gabriel corrected, his gaze settling on Sadie with intense warmth. “We catch Victor inside the warehouse, and we force him to sign over every port license he owns in New Jersey before we put him in the ground.”
He stood up, looking at Marcus. “Prepare forty men. Suppressed weapons. We move on Pier 14 at three in the morning.”
He looked down at Sadie. “You’re staying here under guard.”
Sadie stood up, looking him dead in the eye. “No, I’m not.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “It’s a warzone, Sadie.”
“I know textiles, Mr. Vale,” Sadie said firmly. “If those crates are rigged with mechanical booby traps or chemical seals like the thread in your arm, your men won't know what to look for until someone triggers them. You need me there.”
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Gabriel stared at her for five long seconds. The lieutenants held their breath, waiting for Gabriel to put the girl in her place.
Instead, Gabriel let out a soft, dark chuckle. “Get her a bulletproof vest,” he commanded Marcus. “If a single scratch touches her, Marcus, I’ll hold you personally responsible.”
