Chapter 20 - The Architect's Mistake
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Matteo knelt in the freezing rain, surrounded by the blinding headlights and the raised rifles of his brother’s men. Luca limped forward, drawing a silver revolver from his coat. The victory in his eyes was absolute.
“I’m going to kill her first, Matteo,” Luca whispered, standing over his kneeling brother. “I want you to watch the light leave her eyes. I want you to know that your attempt at a normal life was a joke.”
Luca raised the revolver, aiming it directly at the windshield of the sedan where Lena was trapped.
Matteo closed his eyes, bracing himself to lunge, knowing he would be cut down by a dozen rifles before he ever reached his brother.
But the gunshot that rang out didn't come from Luca’s revolver.
The deafening crack of a high-powered sniper rifle echoed from the dark treeline flanking the highway.
The man standing immediately to Luca’s right collapsed, a massive hole in his chest. A second shot rang out before the body even hit the ground, taking down the gunman on Luca’s left.
“Sniper! In the trees!” Luca screamed, wildly waving his revolver as panic erupted among his men. They began firing blindly into the dark woods.
Matteo didn't hesitate. He grabbed the silver cane from Luca’s hand and swept it viciously across his brother’s remaining good leg. Luca shrieked in pain and tumbled to the asphalt, dropping his revolver.
Matteo scooped up the gun, rolled behind the cover of the sedan’s tire, and opened fire on the disorganized mercenaries.
From the treeline, a massive figure emerged, firing a heavy shotgun as he charged the barricade. It was Dante. He hadn't betrayed Matteo. He had followed him in the shadows, waiting for the real threat to expose itself.
Caught in the crossfire, Luca’s men were decimated in seconds. The survivors scrambled into one of the SUVs and sped away into the night, abandoning their crippled boss.
The highway fell silent, save for the hiss of rain on the hot engines.
Matteo stood up, walking over to where Luca lay bleeding on the road. Dante emerged from the shadows, reloading his shotgun with a grim nod to Matteo.
“You missed the heart again, brother,” Luca coughed, blood staining his teeth as he looked up at Matteo’s cold eyes.
Matteo aimed the silver revolver at Luca’s head.
Before he could pull the trigger, the sedan door opened. Lena stepped out into the rain. She walked over to Matteo and placed a gentle hand on his arm, lowering the gun.
“Don't,” Lena whispered. “If you shoot him while he’s on the ground, he wins. He turns you back into the monster.”
Matteo looked at his wife, then down at his broken brother. He lowered the gun, tossing it into the dark woods.
“Dante, call the cops. Leave him for them,” Matteo said, turning his back on Luca and wrapping his arm around Lena.
As they walked back to the car, hoping the nightmare was finally over, Luca’s burner phone, lying in a puddle on the asphalt, began to ring.
Lena stopped. She looked down at the glowing screen.
The Caller ID didn't show a name. It only showed a single icon: a small, dark crest of the Falcone family—the most powerful syndicate in New York, a family Matteo had sworn peace with a decade ago.
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Lena looked up at Matteo, her heart sinking as she realized the terrible truth. Luca hadn't funded this war himself. He had sold them out to the biggest predator on the East Coast.
The phone kept ringing in the rain. The war wasn't over. It was just moving to a larger stage.
