Chapter 9 - The Wolf at the Kitchen Door
The rain turned into an icy downpour, beating violently against the stained-glass windows of the Moretti stronghold.
The estate had gone completely dark, switching to internal emergency diesel generators after the perimeter grid was cut.
Dim yellow emergency lights flickered along the baseboards, casting long, menacing shadows through the corridors.
Don Salvatore’s body had been moved to the private family chapel on the basement level.
Upstairs, the remaining household staff had been locked inside the reinforced wine cellar for their own protection.
Luna refused to hide among the weeping kitchen maids and frightened laundry girls.
She stood in the service staging area, her apron discarded, wearing a thick wool jacket Luca had given her.
She had washed the blood from her hands, but the small revolver remained securely tucked inside her pocket.
The estate’s internal security system suddenly chimed with a frantic series of high-pitched alerts.
A young guard rushed into the corridor, clutching a cracked radio transmitter.
“Boss! The east gate has been breached!” the guard shouted toward the central staircase.
“A delivery van packed with industrial explosives rammed through the outer barricade!”
“Heavy gunfire reported at the secondary checkpoint!”
Luca descended the stairs like an avenging demon, fully clad in a tactical vest over his tuxedo shirt.
He carried a high-powered assault rifle across his chest, flanked by eight loyal capos armed to the teeth.
“They are using the storm as cover,” Luca barked, racking the slide of his weapon with ruthless efficiency.
“Marco, take three men and secure the lower armory.”
“Vincent, take the second squad and hold the main courtyard stairs.”
“I will lead the defense at the east corridor breach myself.”
Luna stepped out from the shadows, blocking Luca’s path before he could push through the reinforced double doors.
“Luca, wait,” she said, her voice cutting through the panic of the armed guards.
Luca paused, looking down at her with fierce urgency.
“Luna, you need to go to the panic room behind the library immediately.”
“Listen to me!” Luna insisted, grabbing his tactical vest to hold his attention.
“Vincent is not on your side.”
The corridor went dead silent, the guards freezing in their tracks at the maid’s audacious claim.
Vincent Torino stepped forward from the shadows, his face hardening into an expression of murderous outrage.
“You insolent little peasant,” Vincent snarled, reaching toward his sidearm.
“I served Don Salvatore before you were even born in your dusty Mexican village.”
“How dare you question my loyalty while our gates are being blown apart?”
“I saw your reflection in the clock face when Don Salvatore died,” Luna said, staring directly into the enforcer’s cold eyes.
“You sent an encrypted text message the second his breath stopped.”
“And twenty minutes later, the perimeter cables were cut from the inside, not the outside.”
Luca did not move a muscle, but his green eyes shifted slowly from Luna toward his father’s oldest friend.
“Vincent,” Luca said softly, the quiet tone far more terrifying than a shout.
“Hand your weapon to Marco.”
“Luca, you are losing your mind over a maid!” Vincent shouted, taking a defensive step backward toward the kitchen archway.
“The Vulovs offered us twenty percent of the city to eliminate you and clear the path for a real syndicate council!”
“Your father was weak, and you are a fool led by your loins!”
Before Vincent could raise his pistol, a deafening explosion shattered the kitchen wall behind him.
Bricks, plaster, and shattered glass rained down through the service entrance as smoke billowed into the hall.
Through the gaping hole in the brickwork, Russian mercenaries clad in black tactical gear poured into the mansion.
Leading the breach was Dmitri Kosoff, an automatic shotgun resting effortlessly against his hip.
May you like
“Good evening, little maid!” Dmitri roared through the smoke, firing a blast that shattered the chandelier overhead.
Shards of heavy crystal crashed down like lethal hail, separating Luca from Luna in the blinding chaos.
