Chapter 9 - The Defection
By midnight, they emerged near the private boathouse owned by Dante's extended family. Safe in a fortified estate annex, Luciano began marshaling his forces for what appeared to be an inevitable, bloody urban war. Over fifty loyal captains gathered in the underground map room, awaiting orders to strike the Valenti strongholds.
However, an unexpected visitor arrived under a white flag of truce: Marcus, the chief head of security for the Valenti household. He was unarmed, his hands raised as the Moretti guards escorted him into the chamber.
"Why shouldn't I put a bullet in your head where you stand, Marcus?" Luciano asked, resting his hand upon the grip of his pistol.
"Because I didn't sign up to murder women and starve working families," Marcus said calmly, looking between Luciano and Elena. "Lorenzo has lost his mind. Victoria has gone even further. After the highway ambush failed tonight, they hired outside mercenaries to set fire to the dockland tenements in Terminal 4 to create a distraction."
Elena gasped. "There are hundreds of children and elderly families in those tenements!"
"They want to burn the neighborhood and blame it on an electrical short caused by your illegal food distribution," Marcus continued, placing a encrypted thumb drive onto the central table. "Everything is here. The payroll for the arsonists, the voice recordings of Lorenzo giving the command, and the bank accounts funding the entire Valenti shell network."
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Luciano looked at the drive, then at Marcus. "Why give this to us?"
"Because Matteo Rossi once saved my younger brother from drowning when a crane snapped at Pier 7," Marcus answered, looking directly at Elena. "Matteo was the only honest man in this city. And when I saw his daughter standing on that truck in the freezing wind today, handing food to strangers instead of hiding in a penthouse, I knew which side was human. Do what you have to do, Moretti. Save the city."
