Chapter 5 - Bloodlines at Midnight
""Lower the weapons,"" Dante said calmly, walking forward alone into the center of the warehouse. He did not draw his gun. He walked with his hands resting casually inside the pockets of his trench coat.
Kane sneered, stepping out from behind the table. ""Look who decided to join the funeral early. You're getting careless, Moretti. Walking into my house without an army?""
""This isn't your house, Victor,"" Dante said, stopping ten paces away. ""And you don't have an army anymore.""
Kane barked a laugh. ""Check your watch, Dante. Right now, ten of my best shooters are walking into your master bedroom. By sunrise, Luke runs the North Side, and you’re fish food in the canal.""
""Your hit team was compromised at 10:15 PM on Lake Shore Drive,"" Dante answered, his voice icy and steady. ""Federal agents have already raided your three front companies in Cicero. The IRS froze your offshore accounts forty minutes ago based on Marcus Carter's ledgers. You don't have a crew, Victor. You have a thirty-year sentence at ADX Florence waiting for you.""
Kane’s grin vanished. He turned a furious, questioning glare toward Luke. ""What is he talking about? You said Carter’s files were destroyed in the car crash!""
Luke was shaking violently. He backed away from the table, his eyes darting toward the shadows. ""I... I burned everything in Marcus’s office! I checked his home computer! There was nothing left!""
""You forgot to look inside the nursery, Luke,"" Dante said softly, his gaze locking onto his brother’s terrified face. ""You forgot that Marcus had a daughter.""
""A teddy bear?"" Kane roared, realization hitting him like a sledgehammer. ""You sold me out for a five-year-old’s toy?""
Kane drew his pistol from under his leather jacket, aiming directly at Dante’s chest.
Before Kane could squeeze the trigger, the corrugated fiberglass roof shattered. Dozens of flashbang grenades detonated in a blinding symphony of white light and thunderous explosions. Tactical operators in black body armor dropped through the skylights on rappelling lines, red laser sights painting the floor in crisscrossing geometric patterns.
""Federal agents! Drop your weapons! Down on the floor!""
Kane panicked, turning his weapon toward the rafters. Dante moved with predator speed. He closed the distance in two strides, his hand clamping around Kane’s wrist with bone-crushing force. He twisted violently, disarming Kane in a single motion, then drove his elbow into the gangster’s jaw. Kane hit the concrete floor like a sack of wet cement, spitting blood and broken teeth.
Gunfire erupted from Kane’s guards, but it was over in seconds. Nick and his men swept through the side entrances, overwhelming the remaining loyalists before they could mount an organized defense.
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In the chaos, Luke bolted toward the rear exit, slipping through a rusted fire door into the downpour.
Dante didn't shout. He didn't run. He drew his sidearm, checked the chamber, and walked deliberately through the rain toward the railroad tracks.
