Chapter 3 - THE ATTACK AT BELLAVITASerafina was moving before the glass stopped falling.
“Domenico, upstairs.”
He ran.
“Carlo, east corridor.”
Carlo drew his weapon.
“Salvatore, lock the lower level. Nobody leaves.”
Another burst of gunfire erupted outside.
Guests screamed somewhere near the ballroom.
Serafina grabbed Victor by the collar.
“Where are the emergency generators?”
Victor looked stunned.
“Basement.”
“Why aren’t they on?”
“I don’t know.”
She turned toward Nolan.
He was smiling.
“You disabled them.”
Nolan said nothing.
Serafina struck him in the stomach.
He doubled over.
“Where are they coming from?”
“Go to hell.”
She grabbed his injured wrist and twisted.
Nolan gasped.
“Where?”
The mansion emergency lights flickered on.
Dim red strips illuminated the hall.
Victor stared at his son.
“Answer her.”
Nolan looked at him.
“You really are scared of her.”
Victor hit him.
“You brought armed men onto my property while my grandchildren are here!”
“They’re not your grandchildren.”
Victor froze.
That sentence revealed something.
Serafina heard it.
So did Victor.
“What did you say?”
Nolan straightened slowly.
Before he could answer, Domenico’s voice came through Serafina’s earpiece.
“Boss, children secure. Second-floor safe room.”
Serafina exhaled.
“Stay with them.”
“Not happening.”
“That’s an order.”
A pause.
“Yes, Boss.”
Serafina turned to Carlo.
“How many attackers?”
“Security cameras are offline. North gate guard isn’t answering.”
Victor cursed.
“The north gate has reinforced steel.”
“Someone opened it,” Serafina said.
All eyes moved to Nolan.
He laughed.
“You think I planned all this alone?”
Victor’s face went gray.
Serafina’s gaze sharpened.
Someone inside Bellavita had helped him.
A shot tore through the library doorway.
Everyone dropped.
Carlo fired twice.
A man collapsed in the corridor.
Serafina rolled behind a sofa.
Another attacker appeared.
Victor fired.
The man fell backward.
Silence.
Then footsteps retreated down the corridor.
Carlo looked toward Serafina.
“They know the floor plan.”
“Yes.”
She pulled out her phone.
No signal.
Jammer.
“They came prepared.”
Nolan remained crouched beside the table.
“I told you. You’re already too late.”
Serafina grabbed him.
“Move.”
She dragged him through the servant corridor.
Victor followed.
Carlo took the rear.
They reached a narrow staircase leading to the kitchen level.
Smoke drifted beneath the door.
“Fire?” Victor asked.
Carlo sniffed.
“No. Smoke canisters.”
Serafina opened the door slightly.
Two figures moved through the haze.
She shut it.
“Kitchen compromised.”
Victor whispered, “We need the tunnel.”
Serafina looked at him.
“What tunnel?”
“The old wine cellar. There’s a passage to the carriage house.”
“You never reported a tunnel.”
Victor actually looked embarrassed.
“My father had trust issues.”
“Apparently hereditary.”
Gunfire erupted behind them.
Carlo returned fire.
“Go!”
Victor led them downstairs.
They reached the cellar through a narrow stone corridor.
Rows of old wine bottles disappeared into darkness.
Victor moved to a wooden shelf and pulled a hidden latch.
Part of the wall released.
Nolan laughed.
“You think that saves you?”
Victor punched him hard enough to send him against the wall.
“If anyone upstairs gets killed because of you, I will personally bury you.”
Nolan spat blood.
“I’m your son.”
“Not tonight.”
Serafina watched Victor.
For the first time, she believed his anger.
Whatever Victor’s sins, he had not expected this attack.
The four entered the tunnel.
The stone passage was barely wide enough to walk side by side.
Carlo sealed the entrance.
Victor switched on a flashlight.
“Carriage house is about two hundred yards.”
Serafina stopped.
“No.”
Victor looked back.
“What?”
“They expect us to escape.”
“So?”
“So the carriage house is where they’ll be waiting.”
Carlo nodded.
“She’s right.”
Victor rubbed a hand across his face.
“How do we get to the children?”
“We don’t.”
“What?”
“Domenico has them.”
“Your confidence in him is touching.”
Serafina’s expression became cold.
“He has taken bullets for this family twice.”
Nolan chuckled.
“And maybe tonight he’ll finally learn you don’t care about him.”
Serafina turned.
“What?”
Nolan leaned against the stone wall.
“You order everyone around like pieces on a chessboard.”
“Be quiet.”
“Even your husband figured that out.”
Victor looked at Serafina.
Her face went rigid.
Nolan saw the reaction.
“Oh. That still hurts.”
Carlo stepped toward him.
“Enough.”
But Serafina lifted a hand.
“No.”
She stared at Nolan.
“Finish.”
Nolan smiled.
“Matteo died because of you.”
Victor whispered, “Nolan.”
“How would you know?” Serafina asked.
Nolan’s eyes glittered.
“Because the person who ordered his murder told me.”
The tunnel seemed to shrink.
Matteo Moretti had died seven years ago when his car exploded outside a restaurant in Brooklyn.
The official story had been a rival crew.
Serafina had spent years tracing every lead.
Nothing.
Until now.
“Who?”
Nolan didn’t answer.
Serafina grabbed his throat and slammed him against the wall.
“Who ordered my husband killed?”
For the first time, Nolan looked frightened.
Then a voice spoke from the darkness behind them.
“I did.”
Everyone turned.
Victor’s flashlight moved.
A figure stood at the far end of the tunnel.
A woman.
Dark coat.
Dark hair.
A pistol hanging casually from one hand.
She stepped into the light.
Victor inhaled sharply.
“Elena.”
Elena Drago smiled.
“Hello, Victor.”
Carlo raised his weapon.
Five red laser dots appeared immediately across his chest.
Hidden gunmen surrounded them.
Elena shook her head.
“I wouldn’t.”
Carlo slowly lowered the weapon.
Serafina stared at Elena.
“You killed Matteo?”
Elena’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
Serafina’s eyes narrowed.
“You just said—”
“I said I ordered it.”
A pause.
“I didn’t say the order was mine.”
Nolan looked confused.
“Elena?”
She glanced at him.
“Oh, Nolan.”
Something in her voice made him nervous.
“You really thought you were my partner?”
His smile died.
Elena approached.
“You were useful. Angry men with rich fathers usually are.”
Nolan stared at her.
“You said—”
“I said whatever kept you stealing.”
Victor looked between them.
“You used him to fund your return.”
“Among other things.”
Serafina didn’t lower her gaze.
“Who gave the order on Matteo?”
Elena studied her.
“You truly don’t know.”
“No.”
“That’s almost funny.”
“Tell me.”
Elena came closer.
“The person who killed your husband has been sitting at your table for seven years.”
Serafina felt her heart slow.
“Which table?”
“Every table.”
Carlo stiffened.
Elena smiled faintly.
“One of your twelve loyal capos.”
The words landed like bullets.
Serafina said nothing.
Elena looked pleased.
“You built an empire on trust.”
Then she nodded toward the tunnel entrance.
“And tonight, you’re going to find out what trust costs.”
A violent explosion rocked the mansion overhead.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Serafina flinched.
Elena’s expression changed.
“That wasn’t mine.”
Another explosion.
Closer.
One of Elena’s men spoke into his radio.
His face went pale.
“We’ve got incoming vehicles.”
“How many?”
“Too many.”
Elena looked at Serafina.
Serafina looked at Nolan.
Nolan looked genuinely terrified.
That meant he hadn’t planned them either.
Carlo whispered, “Third group.”
Serafina understood instantly.
Someone else had been waiting for both sides to gather in one place.
Someone wanted the Commission.
The Vescari family.
And the Dragos.
All eliminated together.
Her phone suddenly vibrated.
The jammer had stopped.
One message appeared.
No number.
Just six words.
YOUR CHILDREN ARE NOT IN THE SAFE ROOM.
Serafina stopped breathing.
She looked at Domenico’s channel.
“Domenico.”
Static.
“Domenico!”
Nothing.
Elena studied her face.
“What happened?”
Serafina raised her weapon.
Not at Elena.
At Nolan.
“Where are my children?”
His confidence was gone.
“I swear I don’t know.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know!”
Serafina believed him.
That terrified her more.
Then her phone vibrated again.
A photograph appeared.
Mia and Leo were inside a vehicle.
Mia was holding her brother.
Both were crying.
Beneath the image was another message.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THEM BACK.
And beneath that—
A name.
SALVATORE GRECO.
One of the twelve men who had bowed behind her.
One of Matteo’s oldest friends.
One of the godfathers of her son.
May you like
Serafina stared at the screen.
Then everything Elena had said made terrible sense.
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