Chapter 10 - The Dawn of a New Legacy
Ten years later, the iron gates of the Moretti estate were no longer a symbol of fear, but a landmark of a transformed dynasty.
The massive courtyard, once patrolled by grim-faced enforcers in black trench coats, now echoed with the sound of youthful laughter. A thirteen-year-old boy with sharp, intelligent gray-blue eyes and dark chestnut hair stood on the front steps, adjusting the strap of his leather school backpack.
"Lucas," a deep, resonant voice called out from the doorway.
The boy turned. Alessandro Moreants — older now, his temples lightly dusted with silver, but standing with the same unyielding strength that had ruled three boroughs — walked out onto the porch. He wasn't wearing a mafia boss's armor; he wore a simple charcoal sweater and slacks, holding a set of car keys in his hand.
"Ready for your first day at high school, Captain?" Alessandro asked, tossing the keys in the air and catching them with a steady hand.
Lucas grinned, a confident, charismatic smile that carried all the charm his mother had hidden and all the quiet power of his father. "Ready, Dad. Though Marco said if anyone gives me trouble in the courtyard, he's parking an armored truck by the flagpole."
Alessandro chuckled, resting a warm hand on his son’s shoulder as they walked down the stone steps together toward the waiting car. "Marco exaggerates. We’re legitimate businessmen now, remember?"
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"Right," Lucas laughed. "Legitimate businessmen who happen to own half the import-export docks in New York."
As the car pulled out through the iron gates and headed down toward the river under the bright autumn sun, the grandfather clock inside the grand foyer chimed eight o'clock — steady, timeless, and ringing with a future that had finally found its peace.
