Chapter 9 - Blood at the Altar
The ballroom exploded into an absolute warzone!
Valenti’s four personal bodyguards drew their weapons, but Matteo moved faster than lightning. He pulled a silver magnum from his jacket, firing four rapid shots before the guards could even clear their holsters!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The four bodyguards collapsed back over the marble steps, their blood pooling across the white stone!
Gunfire erupted across the grand foyer as Valenti’s remaining mercenaries exchanged fire with Matteo’s tactical team! Cartel bosses scrambled for cover beneath the heavy marble table, while Evelyn and Marcus moved in a tactical V-formation, sweeping through the side corridors.
Don Valenti turned and fled through a private door behind the dais, heading toward the mansion’s upper sanctuary office!
"Liana, stay behind Marcus!" Matteo ordered, racking his weapon.
"No!" Liana shouted, pulling a sleek compact pistol from her garter—a weapon Evelyn had taught her to cock three hours ago. "He’s mine!"
Liana sprinted past the dais, following Matteo through the burning tapestry curtains into the rear private staircase!
They pursued Valenti up three flights of stairs, the sound of boots echoing on mahogany wood, until they reached the heavy brass doors of Valenti’s private vault office.
Matteo kicked the brass doors open with a deafening THUD!
Inside, Eduardo Valenti was frantically trying to unlock a wall safe containing millions in bearer bonds and escape passports. When he heard the doors open, he spun around, pulling a snub-nosed revolver from his desk!
BANG!
Valenti fired wildly! The bullet clipped Matteo’s shoulder, tearing through his dark jacket!
Matteo didn't even flinch. He surged across the room like an apex predator, seizing Valenti by his throat and slamming him violently onto the massive mahogany desk!
CRASH!
Glass paperweights and marble statues shattered onto the floor as Matteo pinned the older man down, his hand crushing Valenti’s windpipe until his face turned deep purple.
"You stole my son," Matteo growled into Valenti’s ear, his voice sounding like gravel grinding under iron. "You made his mother cry for nine months. You tried to put a bullet in his cradle."
"Matteo... please..." Valenti choked out, his eyes bulging with terror. "I... I made you... a Don..."
Matteo lifted his silver pistol, pressing the cold barrel directly against Valenti’s forehead.
"Liana," Matteo called out softly, without taking his eyes off Valenti. "Does this man live or die?"
Liana walked into the room. She held her weapon low, her eyes fixed on the pathetic, trembling monster pinned to the desk—the man who had bought her tears, stolen her baby, and tried to erase her existence.
She walked up to the edge of the desk. She looked Valenti straight in his dying eyes.
"You told Nurse Sarah that a maid’s baby doesn't matter," Liana said, her voice dropping into a chilling whisper. "You were wrong."
Liana turned her back. "Finish it, Matteo."
BANG!
The gunshot echoed through the high ceilings of the mansion, ending twenty years of Valenti tyranny in a single second.
Matteo let go of the body. He tucked his weapon into his holster, turned away from the desk, and walked over to Liana. He took her hands in his, checking her wrists, her dress, her breath.
"Are you hurt?" Matteo asked gently, wiping a small speck of dust from her cheek.
Liana looked up at him. The fire in her soul softened into a quiet, profound warmth as she leaned her forehead against his broad, solid chest.
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"I’m ready to go home to our son," Liana whispered.
Matteo wrapped his heavy arms around her, kissing her hair as the sirens of the city began to wail in the distance—the sound of a new era dawning over Chicago.
