Chapter 14 - The Final Reckoning
"Bennett!" Victor roared, raising his rifle to fire.
Before he could pull the trigger, a sharp, deafening blast echoed through the narrow hallway.
Dominic had stepped out from the adjacent service corridor, firing a shotgun round that caught Victor directly in his right shoulder. The heavy force of the impact slammed Victor against the wall, dropping his rifle to the marble floor as blood poured from his shoulder onto his pinstriped suit.
Victor fell to his knees, gasping for air, clutching his shattered shoulder with his left hand.
His remaining hit squad members lay neutralized in the garden and foyer, completely outmaneuvered by our internal security forces.
I walked over slowly, standing directly over the head of the Moretti family. I pointed the barrel of my 9mm handgun directly between his eyes.
"You picked the wrong night to break into my home, Victor," I said, my voice dead calm, devoid of any anger or excitement—the cold tone of a judge issuing a final verdict.
Victor spat blood onto the floor, looking up at me with wild, terrified eyes. "You think... you think killing me fixes this, Bennett? My family... my lieutenants will tear your territory apart!"
"Your lieutenants are already being arrested by federal authorities as we speak, Victor," Clara’s voice echoed down the hallway.
She stepped out from the office, holding a folder containing financial records and illegal syndicate ledgers we had seized from Moretti's primary holding companies three days prior.
"While you were planning this pathetic assault," Clara said, her voice smooth, composed, and terrifyingly cold, "my legal team delivered full evidence of your union extortion and money laundering networks to the State Prosecutor's office. Your bank accounts were frozen an hour ago."
Victor stared at Clara in absolute disbelief. "You... you little maid..."
"I am Clara Hale," she corrected, stepping beside me, her eyes unblinking as she looked down at the bleeding man. "And you are finished."
Victor looked between the two of us—the cold corporate strategist and the brilliant, unyielding sister standing side by side, bound together by blood and shared resolve. He realized, in that final terrifying moment, that by forcing us together, he had created an unstoppable force.
May you like
"Take him to the basement, Dominic," I ordered calmly. "Hand him over to the federal authorities at dawn. Make sure his family knows that the Hale Syndicate now controls all eastern transport corridors."
"Yes, Boss," Dominic said, dragging the bleeding mafia boss down the service stairs.
