Chapter 8 - Night of Fire and Steel
The clock on the war room wall ticked slowly toward 2:00 AM.
Outside, the rain fell in sheets, turning the manicured lawns of the Moretti estate into slick, glistening mud.
Inside the mansion, all the lights were dimmed except for the emergency navigation strips along the hallways. Mama and I were settled safely in the reinforced panic room located beneath the main study—a steel-lined vault equipped with oxygen filtration, independent power supply, and live security feeds of every camera on the property.
“Are you scared, Mama?” I asked softly, hugging my stuffed rabbit as I sat on a plush leather sofa inside the vault.
Mama knelt in front of me, taking my small hands in hers, smiling warmly despite the pale tension in her face. “Not at all, sweetheart. Mr. Moretti promised us we’re safe. And Uncle Alejandro always keeps his promises.”
Upstairs, on the sprawling grounds, the strike commenced.
At exactly 0200 hours, Alejandro’s tactical units hit Don Salvatore’s waterfront warehouses in a lightning-fast raid that caught the rival syndicate completely unawares. Within twenty minutes, the primary operational base of the Sicilian faction was reduced to a smoking ruin, its financial ledgers seized, and its key lieutenants zip-tied in handcuffs.
Realizing he was completely defeated, Don Salvatore made one final, desperate gamble.
Knowing he had nothing left to lose, Salvatore didn't try to flee the city. Instead, using a rogue insider code, he mobilized a heavily armed suicide squad of desperate mercenaries, directing them straight toward the Moretti estate under the cover of the raging storm.
“Boss!” Rocco’s voice cracked over Alejandro’s encrypted earpiece from the mobile command van parked three miles from the docks. “We’ve got movement at the estate! Secondary assault team—at least fifteen armed men just breached the western perimeter gate!”
Alejandro’s blood ran cold. He had anticipated a counter-strike, but not a suicide run while he was miles away.
“Fall back!” Alejandro roared into his comms, his voice dropping into absolute panic for the first time in his life. “All units, abort current objective! Reroute back to the estate immediately! Protect the girl at all costs!”
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“Boss, we’re twenty minutes out,” Rocco replied grimly. “You’re ten minutes out in the chopper. You have to intercept them before they reach the main house!”
Alejandro slammed his fist against the dashboard of the armored SUV he was riding in. “Drive faster!”
