Chapter 9 - The Lion at Bay
Vincent threw the armored door open, stepping out into the freezing snow alone.
Dominic Vance laughed, raising his weapon. "Look at you, Baron Butcher. No army. No Capos. Just a bleeding man in an alley."
"I don't need an army for you, Vance," Vincent said calmly, walking slowly toward the center of the snow-covered alleyway, keeping their attention entirely focused on him, away from the SUV.
"Kill him," Vance commanded his men.
Before Vance’s men could raise their rifles, the dark alleyway was illuminated by blinding white headlights!
ROAR!
Three heavy Calvetti trucks burst through the snowdrifts from both ends of the alley, blocking every exit!
Carmine DeLuca, bloodied but unyielding, stepped out from the lead truck alongside twenty fully armed Calvetti soldiers who had followed the SUV’s GPS tracker!
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" Carmine roared through a megaphone.
Vance’s men panicked, looking around in absolute terror as they realized they were completely surrounded in a lethal choke-point.
"Shoot him!" Vance shrieked, aiming his pistol directly at Vincent's chest!
THUD!
A heavy iron wrench—thrown with terrifying velocity from the broken window of the wrecked SUV—struck Vance squarely in the side of his knee!
Vance screamed in agony, collapsing onto the snow, his gun slipping from his grip!
Behind the broken SUV window stood Clara, her face set in fierce maternal fury, holding another iron tool she had pulled from the vehicle's trunk kit!
Vincent didn't waste a second. He closed the distance in two strides, kicking Vance’s gun away, dragging the rival boss up by his coat collar with one hand, pressing the barrel of his pistol directly beneath Vance’s jaw.
Vance’s men immediately threw their weapons onto the snow, raising their hands in total surrender as Calvetti soldiers swarmed the alley, pinning them to the ground.
Vance trembled, blood dripping from his mouth, looking into Vincent’s dark, lethal eyes. "Vincent... please... we can make a deal... the North Side is yours..."
Vincent looked back at the SUV.
Clara stepped out into the falling snow, holding little Leo in her arms, her green silk gown trailing across the white ground. She stood beside her husband, her eyes cold, dignified, and fearless.
Vincent looked back at Vance.
"My family doesn't make deals with scum, Vance," Vincent said softly.
He didn't pull the trigger. Instead, he shoved Vance hard into Carmine’s waiting arms.
"Take him to the Federal Prosecutor’s office," Vincent ordered Carmine. "Give them the encryption keys from Sal’s ledger. Let the state put Vance in a maximum-security cage for the rest of his life."
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Vance gasped, staring at Vincent in utter shock. "You're... you're giving me to the feds?!"
"Death is too easy for you, Vance," Clara said, stepping up beside Vincent, her hand wrapping around her husband's arm. "Living in a six-by-eight cell knowing you were beaten by a diner girl... that’s your punishment."
