Chapter 8 - The Shadow's Edge
At three in the morning, long after the guests had departed, a lone black sedan pulled up behind the restaurant. Marco walked into the back office where Dante and Elena were finishing the night's ledger reviews.
"Boss," Marco said softly. "The former syndicate allies of the Falcone family—the ones who orchestrated the attack twenty years ago—have taken notice of Miss Elena’s return. They are holding an emergency meeting at the docks tonight."
Dante’s eyes darkened into ice. "They think they can threaten my family twice?"
"They don't understand who they are dealing with," Elena said, setting her pen down. She opened a secondary laptop on the desk, bringing up port logistics records and manifest logs for the eastern docks.
"What are you looking at?" Dante asked, stepping beside her.
"The Falcone family's remaining front business, North Coast Shipping," Elena replied, her fingers flying across the keys. "They've been using three unregistered cargo ships to move untaxed fuel through Pier 14. They haven't paid port tariffs in eighteen months."
She tapped one key, transmitting a complete financial portfolio directly to the Federal Coast Guard and the Port Authority Enforcement Division.
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"By four AM," Elena said calmly, "their ships will be impounded by federal agents. By five AM, their bank accounts will be frozen under maritime seizure laws. They won't have enough money left to buy a tank of gas, let alone hire hitmen."
Dante stared at his sister for three seconds before throwing his head back and laughing aloud. "You don't even need guns, Elena. You destroy empires with a keyboard."
