Chapter 1 - The Hollow Glass
Dante Moretti stood behind his massive mahogany desk, his knuckles turning pale against the polished timber. The study was buried deep within the eastern wing of the Moretti estate, soundproofed and shielded from curious eyes. When the heavy oak door opened, Luca stepped inside. Luca was Dante’s shadow, an enforcer whose loyalty had been forged in the bloodiest turf wars of Chicago’s South Side. He shut the door silently, his sharp eyes instantly catching the subtle tension hardening Dante’s jawline.
""Close the blinds and sweep the room,"" Dante commanded softly. His voice was dangerously calm, devoid of its usual melodic cadence.
Luca did not question him. He drew an RF bug detector from his jacket, methodically scanning the sconces, the bookshelves, and the heavy drapes. The needle stayed dead. Only then did Luca look up, lowering the device. ""We are clean, boss. What happened? Marcus’s men are still patrolling the outer perimeter, but you look like you’ve seen a ghost.""
""Not a ghost, Luca. A camera,"" Dante said, pouring two glasses of amber whiskey and pushing one across the blotter. ""The mirror in the drawing room. The antique carved silver piece Isabella gifted me for my thirty-fifth birthday six months ago. It is two-way glass. There is an observation nest built directly into the service corridor behind it.""
Luca’s hand hovered above the crystal tumbler, freezing mid-air. His face darkened into a murderous mask. ""Isabella? But she sleeps in your bed. She has the run of this entire compound. Why would she put surveillance behind your private drawing room?""
""Because in the drawing room, I take private council,"" Dante replied coldly, tracing the rim of his glass. ""That is where I sign shipping manifests. That is where I count ledger totals. That is where I sit late at night when my guard is down. Last night, Elena’s little girl Sophie walked in and asked me why I wasn't in the mirror. Children see the world without filters. She saw the lack of depth, the glare of an active monitor through the tint. I checked it myself after midnight. There was a stool, an audio feed, and a chair still warm from an operator.""
""Marcus,"" Luca whispered, the name dropping like venom. ""Marcus was in the house this morning. Did he know?""
""He asked me how I slept twice. He glanced toward that wing four times in ten minutes,"" Dante said, his gaze piercing through the heavy curtains toward the manicured gardens below. ""Marcus served my father for three decades. He guided my hand when I took the throne. If Marcus and Isabella are aligned, this isn't just an internal leak, Luca. It’s a coup twenty years in the making. My father’s death was ruled an unexpected heart failure. But Marcus was the one who poured his final drink.""
Luca pulled his nine-millimeter weapon from his shoulder holster, checking the chamber with a crisp, lethal click. ""Give the word. I will take six men, pull the operator out from that wall cavity by his throat, and put a bullet in Marcus before sundown.""
""No,"" Dante barked, his voice cutting like a steel blade. ""If you strike now, the snakes scatter back into the grass. We don't know who else is holding hands in the dark. We don't know who finances them, or how deep their roots run into our shipping ports. For now, the game continues. They think I am an arrogant don blinded by a pretty woman’s smile and an old mentor's advice. We are going to feed that mirror exactly what it wants to see. Go to the security hub. Reroute the internal closed-circuit feeds from the drawing room to this terminal. I want to know who sits on that stool when the sun goes down.""
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Luca nodded grimly, slipping the weapon back under his tailored coat. ""And the maid? Elena and her child? If Marcus suspects the girl said something, they won't survive the night.""
Dante paused, the memory of Sophie’s pale yellow pajamas and mismatched bear flashing in his mind. The child had innocently saved his life. ""Move them to the carriage house under the guise of deep-cleaning the guest quarters. Put two of your most trusted ghosts on them. If anyone so much as looks at that little girl, burn them to ashes.""
