Chapter 5 - The Cousin in the High Tower
At 9:15 PM, inside the penthouse boardroom of the Moretti Harbor Tower overlooking Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago, Julian Moretti was pouring himself a glass of twenty-five-year-old Macallan.
Dressed in a bespoke three-piece pinstripe suit, wearing a platinum diamond signet ring, Julian stood by the floor-to-ceiling glass, smiling with triumphant, predatory satisfaction.
Sitting around the mahogany table were three senior capos of the Chicago Syndicate Council and corporate attorney Bradley Sterling.
"Gentlemen," Julian announced, raising his crystal glass. "By midnight tonight, Adrien's tragic domestic misfortune will render him incapable of executive command. A father who loses three heirs in a single evening cannot maintain the focus required to lead a multi-billion-dollar maritime empire."
Attorney Sterling adjusted his glasses, reviewing a leather-bound petition. "Under the 2021 Moretti Family Testamentary Trust, if Adrien’s direct lineage is terminated without surviving issue, sixty percent of the syndicate's voting shares revert immediately to the eldest surviving male cousin."
"Which is me," Julian chuckled darkly, taking a sip of scotch. "Have the emergency council session convened for eight tomorrow morning. We will sign the conservatorship decree before the coroner even finishes the intake reports."
BZZZ.
Julian's encrypted satellite phone vibrated on the glass table.
The caller ID displayed the tag: DR. VANCE — SECURE CHANNEL.
Julian tapped the speaker with an arrogant grin. "Is it finished, Vivian? Are the little brats silent?"
May you like
A deep, gravelly voice echoed through the speaker—a voice that turned the warm penthouse boardroom into a sub-zero tomb.
"The babies are sleeping peacefully, Julian," I spoke across the line. "And I am standing in your lobby."
