Chapter 5 - The Snake's Venom
Vincent was on his feet in a fraction of a second, his posture instantly shifting back into that of a cold-blooded warlord.
"Report," Vincent barked, stepping around the marble counter.
"It was Dr. Reed," Geno spat, wiping blood from his chin with the back of his hand. "He wasn't trying to save Aaron. He was trying to finish him off!"
Lena gasped, clutching the edge of the counter. "Dr. Reed?!"
"I caught him in the private clinic ten minutes ago," Geno explained, breathing heavily. "He was trying to inject air into Aaron's IV line to cause a fatal embolism before Aaron could regain consciousness and speak. When I tried to grab him, Reed pulled a scalpel on me, cut my face, and ran out through the east medical exit!"
"Did you catch him?" Vincent demanded, his dark eyes flashing with lethal fury.
"My boys chased him into the woods behind the stables," Geno replied. "We found his car abandoned at the north gate. But Boss... Reed didn't act alone. He dropped his encrypted satellite phone during the run."
Geno held up a small, rugged black phone inside a plastic evidence bag.
"We bypassed the biometric lock," Geno continued. "The last seven calls made from this phone tonight weren't to Nathan."
Vincent frowned, his eyes narrowing. "Then who?"
"Salvatore Moretti," Geno revealed, the name falling like a heavy anvil into the quiet room. "The Don of the Manhattan syndicate."
Lena watched as Vincent's entire demeanor hardened into something terrifying. Salvatore Moretti was the head of the largest rival crime family in New York—a ruthless, sprawling syndicate that had been locked in a cold war with the Calder family for two decades.
"Moretti..." Vincent murmured, his mind piecing together the dark tapestry of betrayal. "It wasn't a family coup. It was a hostile takeover."
"Nathan was just the distraction," Geno agreed. "Moretti paid Dr. Reed six months ago to slowly poison your food with low-grade digitalis over time, making it look like you were developing a natural heart condition. But tonight... when you ordered the venison, Reed panicked because he knew Aaron would taste it first. So he dumped a lethal dose into the sauce, hoping to kill you instantly before you could suspect a long-term poison."
Vincent looked back at Lena, realization dawning in his eyes.
"You didn't just save me from a single poisoned dinner tonight, Lena," Vincent said softly, his voice trembling with a terrifying revelation. "You stopped a six-month assassination plot."
Lena felt dizzy. Her mind reeled as the sheer scale of the conspiracy washed over her. She was just a chef who loved food, yet she had inadvertently thrust her hand into the gears of a multi-million-dollar criminal war.
Suddenly, a heavy explosion rocked the foundation of the estate.
BOOM!
The glass windows in the kitchen rattled violently. The lights flickered, died, and were instantly replaced by the harsh, red glow of emergency backup sirens.
Screams and automatic gunfire echoed from the lower levels of the mansion.
Geno drew two heavy black pistols from his shoulder holsters, stepping in front of Vincent.
"They're inside the gates, Boss!" Geno shouted over the roaring alarms. "Moretti's mercenaries! Someone opened the security doors from the central control room!"
"Nathan," Vincent growled, his face twisted in absolute fury. "Nathan opened the doors for Moretti's men."
Vincent turned to Lena. He grabbed her by her shoulders, pulling her toward the private reinforced security bunker behind his bedroom closet.
"Get inside, Lena!" Vincent ordered, pressing a keycard into her trembling palm. "This room is steel-plated and bulletproof! You stay inside until I come for you!"
"No!" Lena cried, her fingers tightening around his sleeve. "Vincent, they have dozens of men! You can't go down there!"
Vincent looked down at her. In the pulsing red emergency light, his eyes burned with an fierce, fiery passion that made her heart leap.
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"I spent thirty years protecting this family, Lena," Vincent said, leaning down and pressing his lips firmly against her forehead—a deep, lingering kiss that filled her with unexpected courage. "Now I have something worth living for. I am not dying tonight."
He shoved her gently into the safe room, slammed the reinforced steel door shut, and locked it from the outside.
