Chapter 4 - The Lion's Trap
My breath caught in my throat as I watched the screen. Vincenzo’s finger tightened on the trigger.
"Now," I whispered to myself, watching Adrian’s thumb press down on the hidden toggle switch.
A deafening series of controlled explosions ripped through the perimeter walls. The high-voltage security gates collapsed inward, crushing Vincenzo’s backup vehicles and sealing every exit from the property. Before Vincenzo could react, a dozen black tactical vans belonging to Moretti’s elite inner guard swarmed the courtyard from the surrounding tree line, their spotlights blinding the attackers.
Vincenzo was surrounded in a split second. His gun was knocked from his hand by a swift kick from Dante, Adrian’s towering chief of security.
Adrian wheeled himself forward through the mud, stopping inches away from the trembling, cornered traitor.
"You lost, Vincenzo," Adrian said, his voice quiet, carrying the weight of a final judgment. "The Romano bloodline isn't dead. And your reign is over."
"You think you won?" Vincenzo snarled, laughing hysterically despite the barrel of a dozen guns pointed at his head. "The syndicate knows I'm here! If I don't check in by midnight, a dead-man’s switch releases every financial ledger, every political bribe, and every hidden grave to the federal government. Your empire goes down with me, Moretti!"
Adrian didn't blink. He reached into his jacket, pulled out a heavily encrypted flash drive, and tossed it into the mud at Vincenzo’s feet.
"You mean these files?" Adrian asked coldly. "My tech team decrypted your network three hours ago. The federal prosecutors already have copies. Your dead-man’s switch is firing blanks, Vincenzo."
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Vincenzo’s color drained completely. The arrogant, untouchable mafia boss collapsed to his knees in the mud, staring at the flash drive as reality finally crushed him.
Dante and two guards grabbed him by the arms, hauling him away toward the holding cells beneath the eastern annex. The battle for the Moretti estate was over.
