Chapter 7 - The Mastermind's Downfall
The tactical zodiac cut violently through the churning Atlantic waves, spraying ice-cold foam into the midnight air as Marco expertly steered the vessel around the jagged rocks of the headland. Within seven minutes, Lorenzo and his strike team had bypassed the beach ambush entirely, landing silently behind Victor’s vehicle convoy on the cliffside access road.
Victor was still barking orders into his radio, furious that his assault squad had found only an empty concrete trench inside the burning boathouse. ""Find them! They couldn't have vanished into thin air! Comb the shoreline!""
""Looking for me, Uncle?""
The cold, metallic click of a chambered round sounded two inches behind Victor’s right ear. Victor froze mid-breath, slowly raising his hands into the damp air as the realization of his catastrophic failure dawned upon him. His remaining mercenaries, seeing Lorenzo’s seasoned operators flanking them from the darkness with heavy assault rifles, promptly dropped their weapons to the gravel.
Victor turned slowly, his face drained of all color, his arrogant composure completely shattered. ""Lorenzo... listen to reason. We are family. Blood doesn't spill blood.""
""You forfeited your blood when you set Matteo up to be murdered,"" Lorenzo said, his voice terrifyingly quiet, devoid of all human mercy. ""You forfeited it when you hunted down a seven-year-old girl and her mother. You sold out our ancestors for shipping kickbacks and federal bribes.""
Lorenzo tossed a tablet onto the hood of the armored truck. The screen showed live news broadcasts: federal agents were currently raiding Victor’s penthouse in Boston, seizing his bank accounts, and arresting his criminal associates across three states. Simultaneously, the governing Commission of the Italian-American syndicates had issued an unanimous kill-on-sight decree against Victor for orchestrating the murder of an anointed family underboss.
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Victor collapsed to his knees in the mud, staring at the screen in utter horror. ""You... you destroyed everything. You burned the whole house down!""
""No,"" Lorenzo replied, looking back toward the chopper where Marco was gently carrying a safe, smiling Sophie into the heated cabin. ""I merely cleaned the house. Marco, secure him. Deliver him directly to the steps of the federal courthouse in Boston with the signed ledgers strapped to his chest. Let the legal system he bought dismantle him piece by piece.""
