Chapter 5 - The Purge of the Estate
By midnight, the heavy rain had turned into a thick, clinging coastal fog that blanketed the three-hundred-acre Moretti compound.
The ballroom guests had been quietly questioned, categorized, and escorted from the property under armed guard. The corrupt port captains who had pledged secret loyalty to Dante were intercepted at their residences across Brooklyn and Queens by Alessandro’s loyal tactical squads, disarmed, and secured in the subterranean holding cells beneath the Greenpoint container yards.
In the master drawing room, Francesca Vane sat weeping on the velvet settee, her father, Arthur Vane, standing beside her with his hands trembling in his pockets.
On the low cedar table between them sat the small silver box recovered from Francesca’s purse—dusted with latent fingerprints that matched Dante Moretti’s left thumb with one hundred percent forensic precision.
"Alessandro," Arthur Vane pleaded, his voice cracked with terror. "My family knew nothing of this! Francesca was being used as a pawn! Dante approached me two months ago offering exclusive commercial development rights at the Red Hook terminal if I supported his bid for the chairmanship, but I swear on my life, we had no idea he was planning an assassination!"
Alessandro stood before the fireplace, his heavy black overcoat draped over his shoulders. He looked at Francesca, who looked back at him with genuine, horrified remorse.
"You were vain, Francesca," Alessandro said, his tone devoid of cruelty, carrying only the absolute finality of truth. "You let a snake whisper in your ear because you wanted to be the queen of an empire without understanding the blood that built it. Our engagement is terminated as of tonight. Take your father and leave New York before sunrise. If I see a member of the Vane family in this city again, my forgiveness will expire."
Francesca nodded frantically, picking up her coat, and fled through the double mahogany doors with her father, leaving the mansion behind forever.
Alessandro turned to Marco, who stood at attention in the archway.
"Where is Sophia and the child?"
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"In the family dining room, Boss," Marco replied softly. "Sophia tried to pack her bags to leave for her sister's house in Jersey, thinking she was a liability."
Alessandro’s jaw set firmly. "Tell her to stay right where she is."
