Chapter 22 - The Last Moretti
Luca Varga did not want the docks.
He wanted bodies.
His older brother Marco had died attacking the Bellandi estate.
Bernardo was imprisoned.
Vittorio was facing federal charges.
To Luca, Elena Caruso represented the woman who had destroyed everything.
He began small.
A Caruso truck burned in Newark.
Then a warehouse office exploded after closing.
No deaths.
Messages.
Adrian recognized the pattern.
“Varga.”
Elena looked up from the incident reports.
“Marco is dead.”
“Luca isn’t.”
Dominic placed a photograph on the desk.
Luca was thirty-eight, lean, expressionless.
“Former Italian special forces,” Dominic explained. “Worked private security in Libya, Serbia, Colombia. Bernardo used him only when he wanted something ugly.”
“Why didn’t he come earlier?”
“Vittorio hated unpredictable violence. Probably ordered Luca to stay away.”
“And now Vittorio is arrested.”
“Correct.”
Elena sighed.
“Wonderful.”
Adrian wanted to move Sofia to a hardened safe house.
Elena agreed.
That saved her life.
Six hours later, three gunmen attacked the Hudson estate.
The house was empty except for security.
Two attackers died.
One was captured.
He carried photographs.
Elena.
Adrian.
Sofia.
Isabella.
Tasha.
Even several dockworkers.
Elena’s blood went cold.
“He’s targeting civilians.”
Adrian’s voice became lethal.
“We end this tonight.”
“How?”
“Luca has contacts in Queens. We squeeze them.”
“No.”
Adrian turned.
“No?”
“That’s what he wants.”
“What?”
“A war. Bodies. Fear.”
“He already has a kill list.”
“And if you start grabbing every Moretti associate in New York, half the city goes underground and innocent families panic.”
Adrian clenched his jaw.
“What do you suggest?”
Elena studied Luca’s history.
“Men like this need recognition.”
Dominic smiled slowly.
“Bait.”
Adrian hated the plan immediately.
Elena announced a public reopening gala at Pier Seventeen.
Media invited.
Politicians.
Union leaders.
Employees.
Security appeared deliberately light.
Behind the scenes, federal agents and Bellandi men covered every angle.
Adrian argued until the morning of the event.
“You enjoy being bait.”
“I enjoy controlling the battlefield.”
“Same problem.”
The gala began at seven.
Elena stepped onto an outdoor stage overlooking the Hudson.
Cameras flashed.
She spoke about rebuilding the waterfront legally, transparently, with worker ownership programs.
At 7:42, Dominic whispered through her earpiece.
“Movement. Rooftop east.”
Elena continued speaking.
Adrian’s eyes moved toward the roof.
“Possible shooter.”
Then Elena noticed something else.
A catering employee pushing a cart.
Wrong shoes.
Military boots.
“Bomb,” she whispered.
Chaos erupted.
Adrian tackled her behind the podium.
Agents rushed the cart.
The fake waiter ran.
Sal caught him.
No explosion.
Decoy.
Then Luca emerged from the river.
He climbed onto the pier from beneath using diving gear.
Exactly as Marco had attacked the Bellandi estate.
He fired twice.
One bullet struck Adrian.
Elena screamed.
Adrian fell.
Luca vanished beneath the pier before agents could reach him.
Elena dropped beside Adrian.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
“No. No, no, no.”
His eyes opened.
“Vest.”
She froze.
He coughed.
“Ballistic plate.”
Elena punched his chest.
He groaned.
“That hurt more.”
“You idiot!”
Around them, security teams searched frantically.
Dominic crouched nearby.
“He escaped.”
Elena looked toward the dark river.
For the first time since Bernardo’s fall, something inside her became truly cold.
Luca Varga had tried to kill Adrian in front of her.
She stood.
Adrian caught her wrist.
“Don’t.”
She looked down.
He knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Don’t become him,” Adrian said.
Elena stared toward the water.
Then breathed slowly.
“Fine.”
Her voice was quiet.
“We don’t become him.”
May you like
She looked at Dominic.
“We make him come to us.”
