Chapter 4 - THE MAN BEHIND THE SMILE
Vincent Torino had spent twenty-eight years building his influence inside the Moretti organization.
He controlled transportation contracts, warehouse access, and several men who answered to him before they answered to Salvatore.
He had expected Luca to marry his daughter, Bianca.
The marriage would have placed Vincent's family at the center of the Moretti succession.
Instead, Luca had publicly chosen a maid.
A woman with no political connections.
No fortune.
No army of relatives.
Vincent couldn't decide whether Luca was foolish or dangerous.
Either possibility threatened his plans.
He met Dmitri Kosoff in a warehouse office near the waterfront.
Dmitri placed a folder on the table.
“Luna Reyes,” he said. “Twenty-five. Employed by the Morettis for three years. Sends money to family in Puebla. Recently resigned.”
Vincent opened the folder.
Photographs.
Addresses.
Employment records.
“She's nobody,” Vincent said.
Dmitri smiled.
“Then why are you worried?”
Vincent glared.
“Because Luca is willing to humiliate powerful families for her.”
Dmitri leaned back.
“Perhaps we should give him a reason to regret that.”
Vincent studied him.
“What do you suggest?”
“Pressure.”
“On the girl?”
“On everything she cares about.”
Vincent looked at the photograph of Luna's mother.
Then closed the folder.
“Nothing that can be traced to me.”
Dmitri smiled.
“Of course.”
Meanwhile, Luca was discovering that his father's empire contained secrets he had never been permitted to examine.
An internal accountant named Peter Bell approached him privately.
“I need to show you something.”
Luca studied the nervous man.
“What?”
Peter handed him a financial report.
“Transportation revenues don't match the declared shipments.”
Luca frowned.
“Explain.”
“Several warehouses are reporting cargo movements that don't correspond to legitimate inventory.”
Luca looked up.
“Who authorized them?”
Peter hesitated.
“Vincent Torino.”
Luca went still.
“And my father?”
“I don't know.”
Luca closed the report.
“Who else has seen this?”
“No one.”
“Keep it that way for now.”
Peter swallowed.
“Mr. Moretti, I think somebody knows I've been looking.”
Luca stared.
“Why?”
Peter slid a photograph across the desk.
It showed his daughter outside her elementary school.
On the back were four words.
STOP ASKING QUESTIONS, PETER.
Luca's expression hardened.
He had seen this kind of threat before.
But this time, he knew exactly what it meant.
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Vincent wasn't merely angry about a rejected marriage alliance.
He was protecting something much bigger.
