Chapter 4 - The Viper in the Vault
The underground corridors beneath the Moretti mansion were made of reinforced steel and poured concrete—built during the Cold War as a subterranean bunker.
Alessandro walked down the cold corridor with long, thunderous strides. His dark coat billowed behind him; in his right hand, he held a dark custom pistol. Behind him walked twenty heavily armed enforcers, their boots clicking in terrifying unison against the concrete floor.
Sophia stood near the top of the stairwell, protected by four guards, holding Leo’s hand as they watched Alessandro descend into the dark lower levels.
At the end of the hall stood the massive steel door of Vault 4.
Inside, behind a thick glass observation panel, stood Marco Moretti. His suit was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot with wild panic. In his shaking right hand, he held a small black remote control with a flashing red LED light.
"Stay back!" Marco screamed through the vault's intercom system, his voice cracking with madness. "Stay back, Alessandro! Or I swear to God, I'll press this button and blow the eastern foundation of this mansion into the sky!"
Alessandro stopped five feet from the glass. He didn't raise his gun. He simply stood there, his hands resting casually in his trousers pockets, looking at his cousin as if he were nothing more than a rat trapped in a cage.
"You're sloppy, Marco," Alessandro said, his voice carrying effortlessly through the thick glass. "You used military C4 from the Russian shipment we intercepted last month. You paid off the catering contractor thirty thousand dollars through a shell account in New Jersey. Did you really think my intelligence network wouldn't trace that within thirty minutes?"
Marco’s face flushed bright red. "I deserved the throne! My father built half this city! But when the old man died, he gave everything to you! You and your little boy!"
"My son is eight years old, Marco," Alessandro said, his tone dropping into a icy, terrifying register. "You tried to blow up an eight-year-old child at his own birthday party."
"He’s your heir!" Marco shrieked. "If he died, and you were broken, the Council of Families would have forced you to step down! I was going to take the seat! The Russian Syndicate promised me full backing!"
A cold, collective gasp moved through the guards standing behind Alessandro.
The Russians. The Moretti family had been in a cold war with the Bratva syndicate for three years over the New York harbor docks. Marco hadn't just tried to murder a child—he had sold out his own bloodline to their deadliest enemies.
"Thank you, Marco," Alessandro said softly.
Marco blinked, confused. "Thank... thank you for what?!"
"For confirming who gave you the order," Alessandro replied coolly.
Alessandro raised his hand and gave a swift, simple downward wave with his fingers.
Behind Marco, inside the sealed steel vault, a shadow detached itself from the ceiling air duct.
Matteo’s top sniper, who had crawled through the ventilation system twenty minutes prior, dropped silently onto the concrete floor behind Marco. Before Marco could even turn his head, a silenced pistol pressed against the back of his knee.
THWIP!
"AAAGH!" Marco shrieked, dropping to his knees as his kneecap was shattered. The black detonator remote fell from his hand, bouncing across the floor.
The sniper kicked the remote away, grabbed Marco by his collar, and pressed the manual override button that unlocked the massive steel vault door from the inside.
The door heavy-swung open.
Alessandro stepped into the vault. He picked up the black remote control, looked at it, and crushed it beneath his heavy boot into a hundred pieces of broken plastic.
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He looked down at his bleeding, sobbing cousin.
"Take him to the interrogation room in Sector 1," Alessandro commanded his guards. "Keep him alive. He’s going to tell me every name, every code, and every location of the Russian Syndicate leaders in New York before the sun rises."
