Chapter 5 - The Glass Falls
The heavy double doors of the balcony flew open before Claire could reach them.
Nathan Cross stepped out onto the terrace, accompanied by three large, muscular men in dark suits—Moretti family enforcers who had been stationed inside the country club as 'security personnel.'
Nathan took one look at the shattered wine glass, at Claire’s terror-stricken face, and at Dominic standing calmly against the stone balustrade.
Nathan pulled a silenced 9mm pistol from beneath his tuxedo jacket.
“You always were too smart for your own good, Dom,” Nathan said, his voice entirely devoid of brotherly warmth now. The mask was completely off.
“Nathan...” Claire gasped, hiding behind him. “He knows! He knows about the Zurich transfers! He knows about Elena!”
Nathan didn't look at her. His eyes remained fixed on Dominic. “It doesn't matter what he knows, Claire. The Zurich transfers clear at midnight. In three hours, five hundred million dollars hits our private accounts in the Bahamas. Senator Bennett has already arranged for the state police investigation into Dom’s death to be ruled a tragic heart attack brought on by stress.”
Dominic looked at his former friend, his expression entirely unreadable. “Seventeen years, Nathan. I gave you half my kingdom. I made you a wealthy man.”
“You made me your second-in-command, Dom!” Nathan spat, his eyes burning with years of buried envy and bitterness. “I stood in your shadow for two decades! I did the dirty work! I handled the bodies! I made the deals while you played the respectable industrialist! And when Elena died, you got all the sympathy while I was left holding the bloody bag!”
“You killed Elena,” Dominic said, his voice dropping into a register that made the three Moretti enforcers shift uncomfortably.
“She found out about my offshore accounts with Moretti,” Nathan sneered. “She was going to tell you. I had no choice. Just like I had no choice with that useless housekeeper Mia... and just like I have no choice right now.”
Nathan raised the silenced pistol, aiming it directly between Dominic’s eyes.
“Goodbye, brother,” Nathan whispered, his finger tightening on the trigger.
GLASS SHATTERING.
Before Nathan could pull the trigger, the massive stained-glass ceiling dome of the country club ballroom above them exploded inward in a shower of ten thousand sparkling shards.
Two heavy tactical ropes dropped through the roof, and four men in full black tactical gear swung down into the balcony, led by Frank 'The Hammer' Varga.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sharp, unsuppressed thunder of tactical shotguns shattered the night. The three Moretti enforcers were blown backward against the stone walls before they could even draw their weapons.
Nathan gasped in shock, spinning around to fire at the rappelling attackers.
Dominic moved with the speed of a strike-snake. He lunged forward, grabbed Nathan’s gun wrist, twisted it violently upward until the bone snapped with a loud CRACK, and slammed his elbow straight into Nathan’s jaw.
Nathan let out a bloody scream, dropping the pistol as he collapsed onto his knees on the stone floor.
Claire shrieked in horror, trying to run back into the ballroom, but Frank Varga stepped through the shattered balcony doors, racking a heavy 12-gauge shotgun, blocking her path entirely.
The entire ballroom beyond the glass doors was in utter chaos. Guests were screaming, diving under tables, and sprinting for the front exits as state troopers rushed toward the terrace with weapons drawn.
Senator William Bennett burst through the crowd, his face pale with horror as he saw his daughter cowering against the wall and Nathan bleeding on the floor.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Senator Bennett yelled, pointing an authoritative finger at Frank. “I am a United States Senator! Put down those weapons immediately!”
Dominic stepped out of the shadows, wiping a drop of blood from his cheek. He reached into his coat pocket and tossed a thick stack of printed financial documents directly onto the Senator’s chest.
“Read them, William,” Dominic said, his voice cutting through the panic of the ballroom like an iron bell. “Those are certified bank transfers carrying your personal signature, authorizing the laundering of fifty million dollars in campaign bribes through the Moretti syndicate.”
Senator Bennett looked down at the top page. His jaw dropped. His booming political authority collapsed into a pathetic, wheezing gasp.
“You’re done, William,” Dominic said softly. “Your daughter is done. And Nathan is going to spend what little life he has left in a federal supermax facility.”
Two unmarked dark vans screeched to a halt on the country club lawn below the balcony. A team of federal agents from the FBI’s Public Corruption Task Force—contacted by Dominic’s attorneys two hours earlier—swarmed up the grand steps, badges drawn, handcuffs ready.
As the agents tackled Nathan to the ground and snapped steel cuffs onto Claire’s manicured wrists, Nathan looked up at Dominic, blood pouring from his broken mouth.
“You think you’ve won, Dom?!” Nathan spat, laughing hysterically. “Moretti still has thirty men outside your estate! By now, they’ve breached the guest suite! Your housekeeper and her little girl are already dead!”
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Dominic looked down at Nathan, his eyes completely devoid of mercy.
“My estate was cleared two hours ago, Nathan,” Dominic said quietly. “Mia and Harper are already fifty miles away on my private jet heading to a secure estate in Saint-Tropez. The only people left at my house... are my executioners.”
