Chapter 20 - The Ashes
|
The silence, when it finally came, was heavier than the gunfire.
The acrid smoke of gunpowder and burning wiring filled the air. Amelia slowly crawled out of the pantry, coughing, her hands trembling violently.
The diner was unrecognizable. Castellano’s, her sanctuary, was completely destroyed. The booths were splintered wood, the counter was riddled with bullet holes, and the neon sign sparked dangerously above a massive crater where the front doors used to be.
Bodies littered the floor.
Amelia frantically scanned the destruction, her heart in her throat. “Vincent!” she screamed, her voice cracking.
From behind the ruined counter, a figure stood up. Vincent brushed a layer of dust from his shoulders. He was bleeding from a shallow graze on his arm, but he was alive. Marco and three other capos emerged from cover, securing the perimeter. The Moretti hitmen were all dead.
Vincent walked over to Amelia, navigating the rubble. He pulled her into a crushing, desperate embrace.
“Are you hurt?” he whispered fiercely into her hair.
“No,” she sobbed, holding onto him tightly. “But the diner… it’s gone.”
Vincent looked around at the destroyed sanctuary. His jaw tightened. “A building is just bricks and glass, Amelia. You are safe. That is all that matters.”
Suddenly, the jarring ring of a rotary telephone cut through the silence.
Miraculously, the old phone on the back wall had survived the shootout. It rang loudly, echoing in the ruined room.
Marco walked over and cautiously picked up the receiver. He listened for a moment, his face draining of color. He slowly handed the phone to Vincent.
“It’s for you, Boss,” Marco whispered. “It’s Lorenzo Moretti.”
Vincent took the phone, pressing it to his ear. The diner was dead quiet as he listened to the voice on the other end. Vincent’s expression didn't change, but his eyes turned completely pitch black.
“You missed,” Vincent said coldly into the receiver. “And now, I am going to erase your family from history.”
May you like
Vincent hung up the phone. He turned to Amelia, the flames from a small electrical fire illuminating the dangerous, terrifying promise in his eyes.
The attack on the diner was over, but the war for New York had just begun.
