Chapter 5 - The Unraveling of Victor
The alley was slick with oil and rain. Fog hung thick between the tall brick walls of the surrounding warehouses.
Gabriel Vane dragged Mateo toward a running black SUV parked at the end of the alleyway.
“Open the door!” Vane screamed at his driver.
Suddenly, a giant dark shape burst through the fog! Brutus launched himself through the air, hitting Vane from behind! The boss of the Northern Syndicate crashed face-first onto the wet asphalt, his gun clattering into a storm drain.
Mateo tried to run, but Roman stepped out of the shadows, blocking his exit.
Roman grabbed Mateo by his collar, lifting his cousin off his feet and slamming him brutally against the brick wall.
“Fourteen years, Mateo,” Roman growled, his knuckles white. “I gave you a home. I gave you power. I treated your children like my own. And you sold me out to a dog like Vane?”
“Roman... please...” Mateo choked out, tears mixing with the rain on his face. “I... I didn't want to! But... but Victor said it was the only way!”
Roman froze. His grip on Mateo’s collar tightened until the fabric tore.
“What did you say?” Roman asked, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. “What does Victor have to do with this?”
Emma stepped up beside them, her eyes narrowing in realization. “Victor... the security chief.”
Mateo gasped for air, terrified. “Victor... Victor is the one who bought the military transmitter! He’s the one who gave it to me to put in Brutus’s harness eight months ago! Victor was working with Vane long before I was! He wanted you dead so he could take over security operations for the entire Midwest coalition!”
A cold, sickening realization washed over Emma and Roman.
Victor wasn't just incompetent; he was the primary architect of the betrayal. He had staged the security failures, let Miller try to frame Emma, and kept Roman focused on searching for lower-level moles while he held the keys to the entire Moretti estate!
And right now... Victor was back at the mansion, in command of fifty armed guards, controlling the estate’s primary vault and defense systems!
“He knows we’re at the restaurant,” Emma said, panic rising in her voice for the first time. “If the dinner failed, Victor knows Mateo will talk. He’s going to initiate a total lockdown and wipe out your remaining loyalists inside the estate!”
Roman let go of Mateo, letting his cousin drop into a puddle on the ground.
Roman pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing his chief loyal commander, Marcus.
The line rang twice, then cut to dead static.
“He’s already jammed the emergency frequencies,” Roman said, his face turning into a mask of pure, murderous rage. “He’s seizing the compound.”
Gabriel Vane groaned on the pavement, bleeding under Brutus’s heavy paw. Roman looked down at Vane, then turned to Emma.
“Tie Vane and Mateo in the back of that SUV,” Roman ordered grimly. “We’re going home.”
“Roman, Victor has fifty men inside a fortified estate,” Emma warned, looking at him with deep concern. “If he locks down the heavy steel blast shutters, we can't breach the front gate without heavy artillery.”
Roman walked up to Emma, reaching out to cup the back of her neck gently, his eyes burning with absolute determination.
“He has fifty men, Emma,” Roman whispered, his thumb lightly brushing her cheek. “But I have you. I have Brutus. And I built that fortress with my own hands. I know every secret passage under those stones.”
Brutus let out a low bark of agreement, shaking rain from his dark coat.
May you like
Emma looked into Roman’s eyes, feeling an overwhelming wave of strength and trust surge through her heart. She held his gaze and nodded firmly.
“Then let's go take back your home.”
