The city never truly slept.
From the glowing skyline of New York City to the restless docks along the river, movement never stopped. But beneath the surface, tension had begun to ripple like an unseen fault line.
Inside the Russo estate in Staten Island, Anthony stood before his father.
Don Rafael Russo was larger than life—broad-shouldered, silver-haired, with eyes that missed nothing.
"You were taken," Don Rafael said calmly.
"Yes."
"And you survived."
"Yes."
The Don leaned back in his leather chair. "That does not happen by accident."
Anthony held his gaze. "We were both targeted."
"Moretti says this?" his father asked.
Anthony chose his words carefully. "The Carusos are moving."
Silence filled the room.
The name alone carried history.
"The Carusos were dismantled," Don Rafael said coldly.
"Not destroyed."
The Don's fingers tightened slightly on the armrest.
"And how do you know this?"
Anthony hesitated only briefly. "I saw one of their men at the warehouse."
His father studied him. The lie wasn't in what Anthony said.
It was in what he didn't.
"You spoke to Luca Moretti," Don Rafael said quietly.
Anthony did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Across the river, in a dimly lit warehouse office in Manhattan, Matteo Caruso watched surveillance footage from the failed ambush.
Three of his best men lay dead.
He felt nothing.
"Both heirs survived," one of his lieutenants said nervously.
Matteo turned slowly. "That was not the objective."
The lieutenant blinked. "It wasn't?"
Matteo stepped closer to the screen, replaying the moment Luca cut Anthony free.
"Fear destabilizes," Matteo said calmly. "But cooperation… that complicates things."
He paused.
"Prepare Phase Two."
Meanwhile, Detective Isabella Reyes stood on a rooftop overlooking Midtown. The wind cut sharply between the skyscrapers.
She had confirmed financial transactions linked to offshore Caruso accounts.
Weapons purchases.
Property acquisitions.
Strategic locations across New York City.
"They're rebuilding infrastructure," she muttered.
Her partner joined her. "You're saying this isn't just a power grab."
"No," Isabella replied. "It's a takeover."
Her phone buzzed with another alert.
Explosion reported in Brooklyn.
Location: a Moretti-owned warehouse.
She exhaled slowly.
Phase Two had begun.
Luca arrived at the scene minutes after the fire trucks.
Flames devoured the warehouse roof. Smoke twisted into the night sky.
Two Moretti soldiers were being loaded into ambulances.
One was barely alive.
Vittorio stormed toward Luca. "This is Russo retaliation!"
"No," Luca said sharply. "It's not."
"You're defending them now?"
"I'm thinking."
Vittorio grabbed Luca's coat. "Men are dead!"
Luca shoved his hand away.
"And more will die if we react blindly."
Don Alessandro's car pulled up behind them.
The old Don stepped out slowly, his expression carved from stone.
"Report," he demanded.
Luca spoke first. "This was orchestrated."
"By who?" the Don asked.
"The Carusos."
Murmurs spread among the men.
Vittorio scoffed. "Ghost stories."
Luca turned toward the burning warehouse.
"Ghosts don't plant explosives with military precision."
Don Alessandro watched the flames carefully.
"If the Carusos are responsible," the Don said quietly, "then they want chaos."
"Yes."
"And what do we give them?"
Luca met his uncle's eyes.
"Control."
Later that night, Luca met Anthony again—this time beneath the shadow of an old overpass near the waterfront.
No café.
No comfort.
"Your warehouse?" Anthony asked.
"Gone."
"Same thing happened to one of ours," Anthony replied grimly.
That confirmed it.
Matteo Caruso wasn't choosing sides.
He was bleeding both.
"They're accelerating," Anthony said.
"Yes."
"Then we need to move faster."
Luca looked out toward the dark water.
"This alliance stays hidden," he said firmly. "If our families find out too soon—"
"They'll see betrayal."
"And we'll lose control."
Anthony nodded.
"For now," Anthony said quietly, "we hunt Matteo Caruso."
Luca extended his hand once more.
"This ends before it becomes a war we can't stop."
Above them, the skyline of New York City shimmered like a battlefield waiting to ignite.
Three empires.
One city.
And now, a silent war within a war.
Matteo Caruso believed he was orchestrating chaos.
But he hadn't accounted for something dangerous.
Two enemies learning how to trust.