Chapter 8 - the tribunal of New York
By Friday evening, the grand ballroom of the Chicago Plaza Hotel was filled with fifty senior syndicate bosses and elder council members who had flown in from New York to formalize the reorganization of the Midwest territory.
Heavy crystal chandeliers lit the long mahogany table, where the high council assembled.
Sitting at the head of the table in a custom black tuxedo was Luca Moretti, his commanding presence dominating the entire room. Sitting to his right was Hannah, looking breathtakingly beautiful in a dark emerald silk gown, her soft brown hair styled in elegant waves, her fair skin glowing.
Sitting beside Hannah was seven-year-old Sophia, wearing a pale-pink formal party dress, sitting proudly on a standard dining chair—no wheelchair in sight.
Don Carmine, the eighty-five-year-old senior patriarch of the New York High Council, struck his heavy wooden gavel against the table.
"The evidence presented against Dominic Moretti is absolute," Carmine declared, his raspy voice echoing through the silent hall. "He engaged in treason, child endangerment, and grand theft against the Moretti bloodline. He is stripped of his name forever."
Carmine turned his deep, respectful gaze toward Hannah, offering a low bow of his head.
"And to Lady Hannah Carter... who saved the heiress of Chicago from the dark waters and restored her to her father... this council extends our highest honor and bloodline immunity," Carmine announced.
May you like
The gathered mob bosses stood up as one, raising their champagne glasses in unanimous, roaring applause for Luca, Hannah, and little Sophia!
Hannah looked at Luca, tears of pure happiness sparkling in her brown eyes, as he reached across the table and squeezed her hand tightly in his broad palm.
