Chapter 27
Chapter 27: The Ghost of Lake Michigan
The escalation was immediate. Within forty-eight hours, the neutral shipping lanes of Lake Michigan—lanes that the DeLuca family had controlled for three decades—became a war zone. Two of Enzo’s primary cargo vessels were seized by federal authorities under the guise of an "anonymous tip regarding human trafficking," while three of his distribution warehouses in Indiana were firebombed in the dead of night.
"It’s a corporate decapitation strike," Enzo barked during an emergency meeting in the subterranean vault, his capos gathered around the steel table. "Moretti isn't fighting for territory; he's using the federal system to choke our supply lines while his street crews move in on our gambling districts. He’s using Preston’s old playbook."
"We hit them back, Boss," one of the younger capos shouted, slamming his fist on the table. "We take a crew to New York and take Vincent out."
"No," Harper’s voice cut through the shouting from the back of the room. She was wearing a dark, tailored suit, her hair pulled back into a tight, professional bun. She walked to the head of the table, leaning over the maps. "Vincent Moretti is a businessman. He’s only moving because he thinks the DeLuca family is vulnerable because of our connection to my father's scandal. He thinks I’m a liability to Enzo. We don't fight him in the alleys; we fight him on the ledger."
May you like
She looked at Enzo, her eyes filled with a fierce, strategic brilliance. "My father didn't just keep blackmail on judges, Enzo. He kept a duplicate copy of the Moretti operational accounts from the nineties—back when Vincent was just a soldier. If we find that duplicate, we don't just stop the invasion; we destroy the Moretti family from the inside out."
Enzo looked at his wife, a powerful surge of pride mixing with the cold reality of the situation. She wasn't just a survivor anymore; she was becoming the most dangerous strategist the DeLuca family had ever seen.
