Chapter 4 - The Unmasking
Iris struggled against the intruder's grip, her heel stomping down hard on his foot. The man cursed in pain, his grip loosening for a second.
GROWL.
Before the intruder could regain his balance, ninety pounds of black muscle launched through the dark room.
Orion slammed directly into the intruder’s torso, his massive paws knocking the man off Iris and pinning him to the concrete floor. The blind dog didn't hesitate; his jaws locked onto the man's thick leather sleeve, shaking him violently while letting out a blood-curdling roar.
"Argh! Get him off me! Get this beast off me!" the man screamed in panic.
Iris scrambled to her feet, grabbing a heavy brass paperweight from the desk. "Orion! Hold!"
Orion held the man down, his chest heaving, his sharp teeth pressed against the intruder's throat.
Iris stepped forward and yanked the dark ski mask off the man's head.
Julian Valenti lay on the floor, sweating, bleeding from a scratch on his cheek, his eyes wide with terrified shock.
"Julian," Iris breathed, her heart pounding against her ribs. "It was you all along."
"You don't understand, you little bitch!" Julian spat, breathing heavily under Orion’s crushing weight. "Enzo is soft! He's giving away our shipping routes to Moretti! He was going to leave the entire syndicate to a blind dog and a charity trust in his dead wife's name!"
"So you stole Orion," Iris said, the horrific truth crystallizing in her mind. "You poured lye on him to make it look like a rival gang attack, and you left him in the cold to break Enzo’s heart!"
"I wanted Enzo to lose his mind!" Julian sneered, coughing. "I wanted him so distracted by grief that he’d sign the territory transfers over to me! But then you found him! You ruined everything!"
Julian reached into his jacket pocket, pulling a small silver switchblade out.
"Orion, DOWN!"
A voice echoed from the doorway like a clap of thunder.
Enzo Valenti stood in the dark corridor, his face completely pale, holding a heavy pistol pointed directly at Julian’s forehead. Behind him stood four senior Valenti lieutenants, their faces shocked and silent.
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"Put the blade down, Julian," Enzo said, his voice terrifyingly quiet—the cold, dead calm of an apex predator. "Before I put a bullet through your eyes."
Julian froze. The switchblade fell from his trembling fingers, clattering onto the floor.
