Chapter 7 - Blood and Steel
The night erupted into violence.
The glass conservatory shattered as flashbang grenades exploded, but Matteo's men were already positioned in the shadows. Gunfire rained down like a heavy storm, echoing through the high-arched halls of the manor.
Matteo moved like a phantom through his own home. He knew every corner, every shadow, every tactical advantage. A mercenary rounded the corner near the grand staircase—Matteo double-tapped him in the chest before the man could pull his trigger.
Two more pushed through the main entrance; Matteo flanked them through a side service door, dropping them with lethal efficiency.
He was unstoppable, driven not by the cold calculation that had governed his life for twenty-five years, but by a ferocious, protective fury he had never known he possessed. He wasn't fighting for territory. He wasn't fighting for money. He was fighting for the little girl sitting behind the blast door and the woman who had brought light back into his dark life.
Down the main corridor, Liam O'Connor charged forward, flanked by four heavy mercenaries armed with tactical shotguns.
"Ricci!" Liam screamed, his face twisted in mad desperation. "Show yourself, you bastard! You ruined everything! I'm taking your empire and your little pets!"
Matteo stepped out into the open hallway, completely exposed, holding a single sidearm.
"You should have stayed in the gutters, Liam," Matteo said.
The mercenaries opened fire. Matteo dove behind a marble pillar as bullets chipped away the stone in a spray of dust. Paul and three loyalists opened fire from the balcony above, cutting down Liam's guards in a devastating crossfire.
Liam panicked, staggering backward into the grand foyer, bleeding from a shoulder wound. He turned to run, but Matteo was already there, blocking the exit.
Liam drew his sidearm with a trembling hand, but Matteo kicked the gun cleanly out of his grip. Before Liam could recover, Matteo grabbed him by the throat and slammed him onto the polished marble floor.
Matteo pulled a tactical knife from his vest, pressing the razor-sharp edge right against Liam's throat.
"Please... Matteo... wait!" Liam gasped, terror turning his face pale. "Mercy... we can make a deal! I'll leave the country! You can have the docks, the money, everything!"
Matteo looked down at the man who had threatened his new family. For years, Matteo had spared men if it served a business purpose. But now, looking into Liam's desperate, deceitful eyes, Matteo knew there was only one way to ensure Lily and Sarah would ever be truly safe.
"Anthony offered mercy," Matteo whispered in Liam's ear. "Look where it got him. I don't offer mercy."
With a swift, decisive motion, Matteo ended the threat once and for all.
The gunfire in the manor slowly died down, replaced by the soft drip of water from broken pipes and the crackle of security radios.
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"Manor secure, Boss," Paul reported, stepping down the stairs, bleeding from a minor graze on his arm. "All hostiles neutralised. What are your orders?"
Matteo wiped the blood from his knife and sheath. "Clean the house. Call Dominic Rossi. Tell him the Irish Syndicate has new leadership starting tonight—me."
