Chapter 11 - The War Begins
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Chaos erupted in the ballroom. Falcone’s bodyguards immediately drew their weapons, but Daniel’s men were faster, heavily outnumbering them. Dozens of guns were raised in a tense, terrifying standoff. Wealthy guests screamed, diving under tables and scrambling for the exits.
"You insolent bastard!" Falcone bellowed, glaring at Daniel while Isabella sobbed at his feet. "You think you can take my empire over a petty squabble between women?"
"It wasn't a squabble, Dominic," Daniel said coldly, stepping over broken champagne glasses. "It was an assassination attempt. Just like the sniper you put in my tree yesterday. You failed twice. I don't fail."
Daniel didn't pull the trigger. He wasn't going to start a bloodbath in a crowded hotel. He signaled to Carmine.
"We are leaving," Daniel ordered. "If any Falcone man follows us out those doors, kill him."
Daniel turned, grabbed Norah’s uninjured hand, and pulled her quickly through the panicked crowd. They burst out the front doors of the hotel, piling into the waiting armored SUV. Carmine slammed the door shut, and the convoy tore away from the curb, tires screeching against the asphalt.
The ride back to the estate was suffocatingly tense. The silence in the back of the SUV was heavy with the realization of what had just happened. The cold war had officially turned hot.
"She knew," Norah whispered, staring blankly out the tinted window at the passing city lights. "She knew I wasn't from the East Coast. She called me a ghost."
Daniel sighed heavily, running a hand through his dark hair. The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind a stark, dangerous reality.
"The Falcones have eyes everywhere," Daniel admitted, his voice low. "They must have run your photo through their own facial recognition software. They found out you didn't exist in high society."
"So the ruse is over," Norah said, looking at him. "They know I'm a fake. I'm useless to you now."
Daniel turned his head, his dark eyes locking onto hers. In the dim light of the streetlamps passing by, he looked exhausted, but incredibly fierce.
"You aren't useless, Norah," Daniel said softly, the harsh edge of the mafia boss completely gone. "You neutralized a trained assassin in a bathroom with a broken hand. You gave me the public justification I needed to declare war without looking like the aggressor to the other families. You did exactly what I needed you to do."
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"So... what happens now?" she asked, her heart hammering.
"Now," Daniel said, reaching out to gently touch the unbruised side of her cheek, "we lock down the estate. And we finish the Falcone family for good."
