Chapter 14 - The Underworld Wakes
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By sunrise, the criminal underworld of the city was in absolute turmoil.
Word spread like a wildfire through the docks, the underground casinos, and the backroom poker games. Matteo Rossi, the ghost of the waterfront, was alive. And Victor, the upstart kingpin, had crossed the ultimate line—he had attacked the Don’s wife in her own home.
Matteo didn't take Lena to a hospital or a police station. He took her to an underground medical clinic run by a disgraced surgeon loyal to the Rossi family. There, the doctor patched up Matteo’s gunshot wound while Lena sat in a sterile waiting room, drinking bitter tea and staring at her shaking hands.
Dante spent the morning making phone calls.
By noon, a dozen heavily armed men arrived at the clinic. These weren't street thugs like Victor’s crew. These were Matteo’s old guard. Men in tailored suits with cold eyes, men who understood discipline, silence, and absolute loyalty.
Matteo stood in the center of the room, his left arm in a black sling, his face an unreadable mask.
“Victor thinks he owns this city because nobody pushed back,” Matteo addressed his men, his voice low but carrying to every corner of the room. “He taxed your businesses. He humiliated your friends. Last night, he sent assassins into my home to murder my wife.”
A dangerous murmur rippled through the room. Men exchanged dark, knowing glances.
“We aren't negotiating,” Matteo continued, his tone turning to pure ice. “We aren't demanding a sit-down. Tonight, we hit his casinos, his shipping warehouses, and his supply routes. We bleed his bank accounts dry, and then we put a bullet in his head.”
Dante stepped forward, racking the slide of a heavy shotgun. “Where do we start, Boss?”
“Victor operates his main cash-laundering business out of the Platinum Club downtown,” Matteo said. “He’ll be heavily guarded, hiding like the coward he is. We go through the front door. Nobody leaves until Victor is on his knees.”
Lena stood in the doorway of the clinic, watching the men prepare for a massacre. She felt a sickening twist in her stomach. This was the world Matteo had tried to shield her from. She knew she should be horrified. She knew she should beg him to stop.
But as she remembered the assassins breaking into her kitchen, a dark, unfamiliar rage settled in her own heart.
“Matteo,” Lena said quietly, stepping into the room. The armed men immediately parted for her out of deep respect.
Matteo turned to her, his expression softening. “Lena, stay here. You’ll be safe.”
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“Make sure he looks you in the eye before you do it,” Lena whispered.
Matteo nodded slowly. The war was fully sanctioned.
