Chapter 5 - Fire and IronThe door shattered inward, striking Vance’s personal bodyguard and sending him crashing into a rack of filing cabinets.
Before Vance could turn his gun toward me, I fired three rounds. The first struck his arm, knocking the weapon from his hand; the second tore through his knee, bringing him to his joints with a agonizing shriek.
"Matteo!" Evelyn gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief as I stepped into the room, my body silhouetted by the flickering fires outside.
"Mrs. O'Shea," I said calmly, sweeping the room to ensure no other threats remained. "Your daughter sent me. She paid in advance."
I quickly slashed the ropes binding her wrists and ankles with my knife. Evelyn collapsed forward, but I caught her before she hit the cold floor, lifting her gently to her feet.
"Elena..." she sobbed, clutching my coat. "Is she... is she okay?"
"She's dry, fed, and currently in possession of a three-month-old puppy named Bruno," I said, a soft note entering my voice despite the smoke filling the room. "We need to leave. Now."
"Moretti!" Vance spat from the floor, clutching his shattered knee as blood pooled beneath him. "You think... you think you've won? Look out the window! My ship is already in the bay! They will level this entire harbor before they let you leave with those documents!"
I walked over to Vance, grabbed him by his silk tie, and dragged him over to the window.
Out in the bay, a massive container vessel was maneuvering into position, its deck mounted with heavy weaponry designed for smuggling operations in hostile waters. Searchlights from the ship began to paint the silo in blinding white light.
"You built an empire on fear, Vance," I whispered in his ear. "I built mine on loyalty. Look down."
Below us, the dockyard was no longer controlled by Vance’s mercenaries. Dozens of black sedans had flooded the piers, cutting off every escape route. Hundreds of men from the North District—men whose families I had fed, whose rents I had covered, whose children I had protected—had taken up arms. They were sweeping through the harbor like a tidal wave, disarming Vance's contractors and securing the perimeter.
Enzo stood on the roof of a parked truck below, looking up at the silo window and raising a flare high into the fog.
Vance's face drained of all color. "This... this is impossible. They're just street thugs..."
"They are my people," I said coldly. "And you threatened one of our children."
I left Vance lying in his own blood for the police to find when the dawn arrived. I wrapped my heavy wool overcoat around Evelyn’s shoulders to shield her from the biting wind, and led her down the central stairwell to the waiting armored sedan.
May you like
As we broke through the gates of Pier 9, leaving the burning wreckage of Vance's conspiracy behind us, the first pale rays of sunrise began to bleed through the dark rain clouds over the ocean.
The storm was finally over.
