All Chapters of The Mafia’s Reckoning : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Chapter one The scent of blood clung to the room like expensive cologne—thick, coppery, and impossible to ignore. The body lay sprawled across a mahogany desk, one arm dangling limply over the edge. Carlo Ventresca, billionaire real estate mogul and longtime associate of the Morano family, was dead. His throat had been slit with surgical precision, his eyes frozen wide in a final moment of terror. Detective Marcus Hale stood in the doorway, grim-faced, surveying the scene. “This wasn’t a message,” he muttered to his partner. “This was personal.” Behind him, the forensic team worked in silence, flashes of their cameras bouncing off the walls of Carlo’s penthouse office. The skyline glimmered through floor-to-ceiling windows behind the corpse, the city alive and indifferent. Blood soaked the collar of Carlo’s suit, and the deep crimson was a stark contrast to the ivory silk. A single playing card was placed on the desk beside him—an ace of spades, pristine and deliberate. Hale

Chapter three The rain hadn’t let up. It whispered against the steel roof of Arturo’s safe house like static—constant, low, unnerving. Alex sat hunched at the edge of the cot, staring at a wall that had nothing to offer but peeling paint and the stale scent of oil and gunmetal. His hoodie was damp, his mind soaked with unfinished questions. Sophia Romano. He hadn’t heard that name in three years. And now she’d resurfaced—on the heels of a murder, in the middle of a war, walking straight into the lion’s den with Vito Morano himself. Coincidence didn’t exist in his world. Diego entered quietly, shaking water from his jacket. “We’ve got eyes on her.” Alex looked up. “Where?” “She checked into The Marquette last night. Two rooms, but only one’s been used so far. She’s registered under her real name, which makes her either fearless or reckless.” Alex stood. “She’s not reckless. If anything, she’s always been calculated. Cool.” Diego arched an eyebrow. “You’ve met her be

Chapter Five The air in the Morano estate was brittle—like glass under strain. It could shatter with the wrong word, the wrong look. Alex stood on the balcony outside his father’s study, fists braced against the iron railing, watching the city stretch out below him. The skyline looked different now. Smaller. Colder. Each blinking light is a warning. Each shadow is a threat. The rain had stopped, but its scent still clung to the stone. Behind him, voices murmured through the heavy wooden door—Nina, his father, and Gianni. They were discussing Carlo’s replacement as if the man’s blood hadn’t barely dried. Vito wanted to move quickly, to restore order. But Alex wasn’t ready to play puppet in a family playbook that was getting people killed. His thoughts wandered to Sophia. She was trouble. He knew that now. But he also couldn’t stay away. A knock startled him. Sophia stood in the doorway, poised but pale. A tailored coat clung to her shoulders, rain-dampened curls framing he

Chapter SevenThe warehouse air was thick with the tang of oil, metal, and something far more dangerous—secrets. Alex stood at the edge of the steel platform overlooking the dim interior, eyes fixed on the figures below as smoke curled from the cigarette clenched between his fingers. His mind wasn’t on the deal being brokered. It was on her.Sophia Romano.Since their meeting, every instinct in him had gone to war. The way she spoke. The measured pauses. The flicker of calculation behind those sea-glass eyes. She wasn’t just a developer—or a grieving business partner. She was something else entirely.And he couldn’t stop thinking about her.“Focus,” Diego muttered beside him, nodding toward the men below. “This isn’t a social call.”Alex exhaled slowly. “I’m focused.”The men below were Russo affiliates, middle-tier muscle pretending to be untouchables. They were moving shipments—likely weapons—through Morano territory under forged contracts. The job was to observe, gather proof, and

Chapter Nine The safe house reeked of gasoline, rust, and secrets. Morning sunlight filtered in through narrow slits between the boards Arturo had nailed over the windows, casting thin lines of light across the concrete floor. The silence inside wasn’t peaceful—it was calculated, like the pause before a predator pounced.Alex stood by the sink, rinsing blood from his knuckles. The encounter with Niko had left more than bruises—it had left a warning. One too close to home.He glanced toward the back room where Sophia still slept, curled in on herself, one arm tucked under her head. Her dark hair fanned across the pillow like ink. She looked peaceful—too peaceful. It made something in his chest twist.But peace didn’t last.The knock was soft. Two short, one long. A pattern only Diego would use.Alex opened the door without a word.Diego stepped inside, shutting it quickly behind him. His eyes were sharp, jaw tight. He tossed a file onto the table.“You were right. About the leak.”Ale