Chapter 20 - A Throne of Ash and Smoke
From the darkness of the ruined ICU wing, Dante Vance stepped into the flickering emergency light.
His face was wrapped in bloody bandages where Luca had smashed the glass into his nose, but his eyes were wide with triumphant, psychotic madness. Behind him stood eight heavily armed mercenaries, their laser sights painting bright red dots across Luca’s chest and Luna’s forehead.
And beside Dante stood Gianna Bellini.
In Gianna’s manicured hand was a detonator switch with a blinking amber light.
"What a touching domestic dispute," Dante laughed, his voice muffled behind the bloodied gauze. "The prince, the maid, and the bloody truth. Tell me, Moretti, did you really think your father told you everything?"
Luca slowly shifted his body, positioning himself in front of Luna despite her gun still hovering between them. "This is between you and me, Vance. Let her walk."
"Walk?" Gianna spat, stepping forward, her eyes wild with vindictive delight. "She isn't walking anywhere, Luca! You destroyed my family's honor for this orphan! But the funniest part? Salvatore didn't order the hit on the Morelli family twenty years ago."
Luna froze behind Luca. "What?"
Gianna smirked, glancing at the smoldering ruins of the clinic. "My father did. Don Bellini orchestrated the massacre of the Morellis so he could take over the shipping lanes. He just used a sixteen-year-old Luca as the weapon to take the blame, ensuring the Morettis and Morellis would never unite."
Gianna leaned in, her voice dripping with poison. "Salvatore took you in, Luna, not out of pity, but as a hostage. A leverage chip against my father. You were never a maid. You were a sleeper key to the entire Bellini fortune."
Luca’s breath hitched. He turned his head slightly, the realization crashing down upon him like a tidal wave of betrayal. The lies ran deeper than the foundations of New York.
"Enough talking," Dante snapped, raising his gold-plated Desert Eagle. "The old man is dead. The Commission has already declared me the overseer of the Five Families. It's time to clean the board."
Dante pointed the barrel straight at Luca’s head.
"Wait!" Luna screamed, stepping out from behind Luca, her Beretta raised.
At that exact second, the heavy steel fire doors at the end of the hall buckled outward with a deafening metallic screech.
*CRASH!*
A flash of blinding white light illuminated the entire floor. A deafening, synchronized volley of sniper fire blew through the exterior windows from helicopters hovering outside the building.
Three of Dante’s mercenaries fell instantly, their heads snapping back as high-caliber rounds tore through the room.
"What the hell?!" Dante roared, diving behind a collapsed pillar as glass and concrete rained down.
Through the smoke, a figure walked through the shattered fire doors. He wasn't dressed in mafia pinstripes or street tactical gear. He wore a crisp, dark navy trench coat, flanked by men in unmarked black body armor bearing no syndicate crests.
The man looked up, his face illuminated by the muzzle flashes.
He had the exact same striking, piercing dark eyes as Luna.
The man looked directly at Luna, ignoring the hail of bullets around them, and pulled a heavy gold signet ring from his pocket—the lost crest of the Morelli syndicate.
"Hello, little sister," the man said over the roar of the helicopter blades. "Did you miss me?"
Luca turned his weapon toward the new threat, his body shielding Luna, but as the helicopters swept their spotlights across the room, Gianna shrieked in terror and slammed her thumb down on the detonator switch.
The floor beneath their feet began to crumble into an abyss of fire.
A single shot rang out—point-blank.
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Blood sprayed across Luna’s face.
Luca gasped, his green eyes widening in absolute shock as he stumbled forward into Luna’s arms, his heavy weight dragging them both down into the smoke and darkness as the ceiling collapsed above them.
