Shy Waitress Greeted Mafia Boss’s Sicilian Dad—Her Sicilian Dialect Greeting Had Every Guest Frozen
The Bunker Beneath the Kitchen
The rusted Ford farm truck rattled violently as it bounced over the cobblestones of Mulberry Street. It was 3:00 in the morning, and a thick fog had rolled in off the Hudson, blanketing Little Italy in a ghostly silence.
Lorenzo killed the headlights as they drifted into the alley behind Veno and Verita. The restaurant was dark, the windows still boarded up from a renovation that had served as a front for years.
Inside, Lorenzo ordered, his voice tight.
“Move.”
They moved like phantoms through the back entrance. The kitchen was cold, smelling faintly of the spilled Chianti from the disastrous dinner service just hours ago.
Lorenzo didn’t stop. He led them to the pantry, shoved a heavy shelving unit aside, and punched a code into a hidden keypad.
A section of the wall hissed open, revealing a steel staircase. They descended into the true heart of the Moretti operation—a high-tech bunker buried beneath the wine cellar.
Banks of monitors lined the walls, casting a blue glow over Giovanni, the restaurant owner, who was pacing nervously in his pajamas.
“Don Salvatore!” Giovanni gasped.
He was clutching his rosary.
“I heard the shooting! I thought the family was finished.”
“Not yet,” Salvatore said.
He sank into a leather chair, his face gray with exhaustion.
“Get me a secure line. Call Liam O’Connor,” Lorenzo barked.
He paced the room like a caged tiger. Giovanni’s eyes widened.
“The Butcher of Hell’s Kitchen? You want to call the Irish?”
“Do it.”
