Chapter 7 - SHADOWS ON THE WATERFRONT
By noon, the rain had cleared into a cold, biting mist over the harbor.
The media was in a frenzy.
Headlines splashed across every major news network in the country:
BILLIONAIRE WEDDING OF THE DECADE CANCELED AMID WATERFRONT SHOOTOUTS.
FALCONE ENTERPRISES ACCUSED OF MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD.
Dante stood before the tactical monitors in the war room.
Gemma sat in a swivel chair beside him.
She had refused to stay in the panic room once the building was secured.
She wore one of Dante’s oversized black cashmere sweaters over her bandages.
Her laptop was open on the glass conference table.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard with clinical precision.
“Here,” she said, tapping the screen.
Dante leaned over her shoulder, resting one hand on the back of her chair.
The proximity was intoxicating, but neither allowed their focus to waver.
“What am I looking at?” Dante asked.
“Salvatore didn't just murder Leo for the docks,” Gemma explained.
She pulled up a series of satellite coordinates.
“He used Leo’s death to establish a shadow shipping corridor through Pier 9.”
“Every month, twenty shipping containers bypass federal customs.”
“What’s inside them?” Enzo asked from the doorway.
“Unregistered firearms and counterfeit bearer bonds,” Gemma said.
She turned to face Dante.
“He’s using the bonds to buy off the city council.”
“He planned to revoke the Lombardi family’s commercial harbor licenses next Tuesday.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed into slits of dark obsidian.
“He was going to starve us out legally while pretending to be our family.”
“Exactly,” Gemma said.
“And the hub of the entire operation is Pier 9.”
“The containers are being loaded right now onto the freighter Crest of Naples.”
“If that ship clears international waters, the paper trail is gone.”
“Then we sink the ship,” Enzo growled.
“No,” Gemma said immediately.
She looked at Dante with steady confidence.
“If you sink it, the authorities will call it a gang war.”
“The feds will freeze both families’ assets.”
“You don't sink the ship, Dante.”
“You seize it.”
“You invite the Port Authority and the Department of Justice to inspect the cargo.”
“You hand them Salvatore Falcone on a silver platter.”
Enzo stared at her in disbelief.
“She’s right,” Enzo admitted slowly.
“If the feds take Salvatore, the Falcone family collapses without firing another shot in the streets.”
Dante looked down at Gemma.
A rare, proud smirk touched his lips.
“Five years I paid you as an assistant,” Dante murmured.
“You should have been running my board of directors.”
Gemma blushed, a faint rose blooming in her pale cheeks.
“You didn't ask for strategic consulting on my resume, Mr. Lombardi.”
“Call me Dante,” he commanded softly.
“We’re past 'Mr. Lombardi'.”
Her breath hitched.
She nodded once.
“Dante.”
He straightened his posture and turned to Enzo.
“Prep the waterfront strike team.”
“We move on Pier 9 in two hours.”
“What about Miss Thorne?” Enzo asked.
“She stays in the armored command vehicle,” Dante said.
Gemma opened her mouth to protest, but Dante held up a single finger.
May you like
“You don't leave my sight, Gemma.”
“Not until Salvatore Falcone is in chains or in the ground.”
