Chapter 9 - The Wine Cellar's Secret|
Matteo’s eyes met Elena's for a brief, frozen second. In that single glance, she saw twenty-five years of regret, anger, and something dangerous and unresolved.
Then, Matteo raised his weapon and pointed it straight at Elena’s chest.
"Hand over the notebook, Elena," Matteo said, his voice flat, stripped of all emotion.
Elena felt as though all the air had been kicked from her lungs. "Matteo... what are you doing?"
"I’m doing what I should have done twenty-five years ago," Matteo said coldly. "My father is right. An empire is worth more than a ghost."
Don Carmine let out a low, satisfied chuckle from behind his guards. "Good boy, Matteo. Blood always calls to blood."
Elena stared at the barrel of Matteo’s gun. The silver cylinder reflected the dim overhead lights. Her heart shattered into a thousand jagged pieces. She had trusted him. She had believed he was protecting her.
"You're just like him," Elena whispered, her voice trembling with pure hatred.
"Give me the notebook," Matteo repeated, taking one step closer. "Now."
Elena’s hands shook as she pulled her mother's leather notebook from her apron pocket. She held it out toward him.
Matteo reached out with his free hand to grab it.
The moment his fingers touched the leather cover, Matteo violently spun on his heel, grabbing Elena by her shoulder and shoving her behind him while firing three rapid shots straight into Don Carmine’s personal bodyguards.
The room erupted into absolute chaos once again.
Guard bodies hit the floor as muzzle flashes illuminated the dark penthouse.
"Luca! The fire escape!" Matteo roared, firing blindly into the smoke as Don Carmine screamed orders from the hallway.
Matteo grabbed Elena’s arm, hauling her toward a hidden service door concealed behind a bookcase. "Move! Move!"
Elena stumbled through the narrow metal door into the darkness of the service stairwell, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
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"You lied to him!" she panted as they sprinted down the concrete steps.
"I needed him to lower his guard," Matteo shouted back over the echoing footsteps behind them. "Now run!"
