Chapter 56 - The Price of Loyalty
The sudden clang of the magnetic lock echoed through the small concrete cell like a gunshot. The overhead fluorescent lights flickered once, twice, and then plunged us into total, suffocating darkness.
"Dante! Marco!" Vincent shouted, slamming his shoulder into the heavy steel door. It didn't budge. "Report!"
Static crackled through Vincent’s earpiece, followed by a faint, muffled sound of suppressed gunfire from the floors above.
My heart plummeted into my stomach. "Maya!" I screamed, lunging toward the door and clawing at the smooth metal. "Vincent, they're upstairs! She’s alone!"
"Quiet!" Vincent ordered, pulling me back from the door. His voice was calm, but his pulse was racing under the sleeve of his jacket. He pulled a compact tactical flashlight from his pocket and clicked it on. The sharp white beam cut through the gloom, illuminating Antonio’s pale, blood-spattered face.
Antonio let out a broken, high-pitched laugh. "I told you. I told you the dead-man switch wasn't mine! You thought I was the master, Vincent? I was just the caretaker!"
Vincent strode across the cell, grabbing Antonio by the collar of his ruined shirt and hauling him upright. "Who took the cameras offline? Who is upstairs with my daughter?!"
"The one who paid for her nanny!" Antonio wheezed, spitting blood onto the concrete. "The one who arranged for Sofia to die quietly! The one who wanted you to bring Cesare’s granddaughter back into the open so the trust could be legally activated!"
"Salvatore," I whispered, the cold reality hitting me like a freight train.
"Salvatore doesn't have the stomach for this," Antonio gasped. "It’s not Salvatore. It’s the firm! Aegis Holdings isn't an offshore shell, Vincent... it’s the consortium of the five families in New York! They’ve been waiting twenty-five years to absorb the Moretti empire. And now that Maya’s biometrics have validated the trust, the assets transfer to the legal guardian upon your death!"
The air left my lungs.
Upon Vincent’s death... the assets transfer to the legal guardian.
*To me.*
"They don't want to kill Maya," I realized, horror dawning over me. "They want to kill Vincent. And then they force me to sign the proxy over to them."
"Vincent," I choked out, grabbing his arm. "They left me alive as the primary guardian on purpose. The retinal scan wasn't just a verification—it set the board."
Vincent didn't waste another second. He released Antonio, drew his custom Kimber 1911 from his shoulder holster, and aimed it directly at the junction box of the electronic lock on the wall.
May you like
"Cover your ears," Vincent commanded.
He fired three heavy rounds directly into the lock mechanism. Sparks exploded in the enclosed space, followed by the pungent smell of burning copper and ozone.
