Chapter 3 - The Interrogation
The silence inside the armored Mercedes was suffocating.
The fake driver whimpered softly, a pathetic sound that made Alessandro’s blood boil.
"Who sent you?" Alessandro demanded, the barrel of the Glock pressing harder into the imposter’s scalp.
"I swear, I don't know!" the driver cried out, tears streaming down his face.
"They just paid me to take the car to the eastern tunnel and leave it there!"
"Who is 'they'?" Alessandro pressed, his finger curling slightly around the trigger.
The driver’s eyes darted frantically in the rearview mirror toward Filippo.
It was all the confirmation Alessandro needed.
Without warning, Alessandro swung the heavy pistol sideways, striking Filippo across the jaw with bone-crushing force.
Filippo cried out in pain, spitting blood onto the pristine leather seats.
"You sold me out," Alessandro growled, grabbing Filippo by the lapels of his expensive charcoal coat.
"Twelve years, Filippo."
"Twelve years I fed you, clothed you, and treated you like my own flesh and blood!"
Filippo laughed weakly, a wet, rattling sound mixed with blood and desperation.
"You cast too big of a shadow, Alessandro," Filippo sneered, his eyes filled with hateful defiance.
"Nothing grows in the dark."
"Who else?" Alessandro demanded, shaking the traitor violently.
"The cameras in the tunnel, the garage code, you couldn't have set this up alone."
Filippo just grinned, exposing bloodstained teeth.
"You think you are so invincible, boss, but your entire empire is rotting from the inside out."
Alessandro did not hesitate.
He drove his knee upward, catching Filippo directly in the ribs with a sickening crack.
Filippo collapsed against the window, gasping for air like a dying fish.
"Valentina," Filippo wheezed out finally, unable to endure the agony.
"It was Valentina's idea."
Alessandro felt a cold spike of ice drive itself through his heart.
Valentina was his cousin, his fiercest advocate on the council, or so he had believed.
"She wants the throne," Filippo coughed, clutching his shattered ribs.
"She promised me the eastern territories if I delivered you to the tunnel."
Alessandro released his grip on Filippo and leaned back, his mind processing the ultimate betrayal.
His own blood had signed his death warrant.
May you like
"Turn the car around," Alessandro ordered the trembling driver.
"We are going to the council meeting after all."
