He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 11
After the neutral witnesses left, the Christmas breakfast at the old house descended into chaos.
Margaret couldn’t find her medication, and the kitchen didn’t know what she could eat. Dominic’s father appeared unexpectedly with a new girlfriend, only to find his room was on the same floor as his brother’s.
In less than half an hour, the guards from both sides were clashing in the hallway.
The first wave of guests for the charity breakfast had also arrived.
Sloane had no idea I had canceled the event and had the kitchen prepare for the original number of guests. The result was that twice as many people showed up as expected. Many had no seats, and several wives from allied families were placed at tables below even the family’s outer circle.
At a gathering like that, seating wasn’t a question of manners.
It told everyone who was respected and who could be slighted.
One long-term donor asked after a family we had promised to help last year.
Sloane rifled through the files and found only a payment sheet.
She didn’t know the child’s name. She didn’t know if the money had actually been delivered.
In the past, I kept all of that in my own work notes.
Not because I wanted credit, but because I never wanted helping people to become a performance the Moretti family forgot the moment the pictures were taken.
After hearing Sloane’s vague answer, the donor suspended all support for the following year on the spot.
Dominic blamed her for being unprepared.
Sloane shot back, “Evelyn gave me the keys, but she didn’t give me the instruction manual.”
That was when they first realized the wife’s position had never come with a script you could perform from.
In previous years, I confirmed everyone’s schedule, room, and entourage a full week in advance, and I kept the two most hostile groups on opposite sides of the estate.
Sloane had my key inventory, but she didn’t know which fire to put out first.
She called the wrong doctor for Margaret and sent the gifts intended for two different captains to the wrong men. Those gifts implied completely different levels of status.
One captain received the cheap liquor meant for a subordinate and walked out on the spot with his men.
The pearl necklace around Sloane’s throat had not magically granted her my judgment.
At last, Margaret lost her temper.
“Where is Evelyn?”
Dominic didn’t answer.
The head of security said quietly, “She was taken to the hospital last night.”
The table fell silent.
Dominic’s father demanded to know what had happened.
Sloane rushed to say that I had stormed out on my own and later gotten sick from the cold by the lake.
Dominic could have corrected her.
But in front of all the elders and captains, he chose silence.
He still wouldn’t admit that he had taken my phone and documents, stripped my protection, and pushed me out into a blizzard.
Margaret saw his expression and guessed the truth was not so simple.
“Go to the hospital and bring her back.”
Dominic reached for his car keys.
At that moment, though, his phone began ringing, one call after another.
All three of the new casino hotels had received notice that the Costa family would no longer guarantee their funding or shipping routes. Neutral lenders were demanding they cover the gap within thirty days, and several partners had already halted deliveries.
The captains, having learned I had voided my internal seal, demanded that Dominic return to Chicago immediately to explain himself.
For the first time, he realized that what needed fixing after I left was not just a cold war inside a marriage.
The entire Moretti family was losing, all at once, everything I had been holding together.