Chapter 16 - The Fall
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The gunfire in the main hall began to die down, the Moretti guards finally pushing the remaining assassins back toward the shattered front doors. Dante signaled for Emily to stay down, moving cautiously to clear the adjacent hallway.
“Marco!” Dante shouted, stepping over a fallen body. “Secure the perimeter! We need a headcount!”
Marco emerged from the smoke near the library doors. He looked exhausted, his suit torn, holding his weapon loosely at his side.
“The perimeter is lost, Dante,” Marco said quietly.
Emily peered around the edge of the marble table, a sudden, cold sense of dread washing over her. Marco’s tone wasn't panicked. It was terrifyingly calm.
“What do you mean lost?” Dante demanded, taking a step toward his most trusted lieutenant. “Get the men to the backup generators.”
Marco didn't move. He slowly raised his weapon, aiming it directly at Dante’s chest.
“The men are dead, Boss,” Marco stated, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
From the shadows behind Marco, Nikos Konstantinos stepped into the light. He looked immaculate in a tailored gray suit, entirely untouched by the blood and chaos of the siege. He offered a cold, victorious smile.
Dante froze. The realization hit him with staggering force. The inside job. The disabled cameras. The breached gates. It hadn't been a low-level guard. It had been his right hand.
“You sold us out, Marco,” Dante whispered, the betrayal burning in his eyes like a physical wound.
“Nikos offered me fifty percent of the recovered ledger and control of the Athens ports,” Marco replied simply. “You were distracted, Dante. You went soft over a waitress. This syndicate requires a leader who isn't blinded by sentiment.”
“Drop the weapon, Dante,” Nikos commanded, his men flooding into the room, surrounding the mob boss with a dozen assault rifles. “Or we kill the girl right now.”
Dante’s jaw tightened. He looked at Emily, hiding behind the table, her eyes wide with sheer terror. He knew he could take Marco, but he couldn't take twelve men before one of them put a bullet in her.
Slowly, agonizingly, Dante lowered his rifle and dropped it to the marble floor.
“Smart boy,” Nikos sneered. He gestured to two of his massive guards. “Take the girl. We will extract the ledger’s location from her at my compound.”
“If you touch her,” Dante roared, lunging forward, “I will carve your heart out!”
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Marco didn't hesitate. He stepped forward and drove the heavy stock of his rifle brutally into the side of Dante’s head. Dante collapsed to the floor, unconscious before he even hit the marble.
Emily screamed as rough hands grabbed her arms, dragging her brutally out of the ruined mansion and into the nightmare waiting outside.
