Chapter 9 - The Final Reckoning
My blood ran cold.
Tony Miller. The desperate, greedy uncle who had realized he had lost his leverage when I took Elena and Lily away.
“Frankie,” I snapped, standing up instantly. “Lock down Elena’s floor. I’m coming now.”
I looked at Lily. She had seen the sudden change in my face.
“Stay here with Mrs. Gable, Lily,” I said, placing my hands on her shoulders. “I’ll be back soon.”
“It’s Uncle Tony, isn't it?” she asked, her voice steady despite the situation.
“I’m going to handle it, Lily.”
“Don't hurt him too bad,” she whispered. “He’s foolish, but he used to buy me ice cream when I was little.”
I stared at her, amazed once again by the profound grace inside this small girl who had grown up in the rough streets of Red Hook.
“I’ll remember that,” I promised.
Ten minutes later, my SUV roared into the ambulance bay at Mount Sinai Hospital. Frankie met me at the elevator doors, flanked by three guards.
“Where are they?” I demanded.
“We intercepted them on the fourth floor corridor,” Frankie reported. “Tony was trying to get into Elena’s room to demand money. Said he had ‘family rights’ and threatened to go to the press about your past.”
We stepped off the elevator onto the restricted medical floor.
Tony was pinned against the wall by two of my security officers, his nose bleeding, his hands handcuffed behind his back. Two low-level street hustlers he had brought with him were sitting on the floor, guarded by my men.
I walked up to Tony, stopping inches from his face.
“You don't learn, do you, Tony?” I said, my voice dangerously low.
Tony choked out a desperate laugh. “You can't do anything to me, Moretti! I know who you are! I know about your past! You think you can just buy Elena and the kid and pretend you're a normal family?”
I looked at him with quiet contempt.
“I’m not buying anything, Tony,” I said calmly. “I’m protecting what belongs to me. And as for you—you’re leaving New York tonight.”
I looked at Frankie.
“Put him on a bus to Chicago,” I ordered. “Give him five thousand dollars in cash. If he ever steps foot back in the state of New York, execute the warrant we filed for extortion.”
Tony’s eyes went wide. “Five... five thousand?”
“That’s the ice cream money Lily asked me to give you,” I said coldly. “Now get him out of my sight.”
Frankie dragged Tony away down the corridor.
I stepped into Elena’s room. She was sitting up in bed, looking pale but calm.
“Is it over?” she asked softly.
I walked over to her bed, sat on the edge, and took her fragile hand in mine.
“It’s over, Elena,” I said. “Tony is gone. The Valenti family is pushed back. You and Lily are safe.”
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Elena looked at me, her eyes shining with quiet tears. “I was so afraid for so long, Dominic.”
“So was I,” I admitted, squeezing her hand. “But our daughter taught me something in a dusty warehouse two weeks ago. She taught me that when you’re facing the dark, you don't run away. You cut the ropes.”
