Chapter 3

“Then let’s do as the young Valenti says. Put your guns down,” Soren ordered with a faint, unreadable smile.

His men hesitated for a moment before lowering their weapons one after another, and the two men restraining Luca released him as well.

With a shard of glass pressed against his throat, Soren neither struggled nor begged for mercy.

Instead, the corner of his mouth lifted with an almost amused expression. “I thought this was going to be a dull cleanup, but I didn’t expect to see such an entertaining last stand.”

“Ezio, don’t do anything rash! Let him go!” my father shouted, his face drained of color.

Ezio’s fingers were clenched so tightly that the jagged glass had already cut deep into his palm, and blood streamed down his wrist.

“You’ve protected me all these years,” he said with grim determination. “This time, let me protect all of you.”

“Ezio, calm down and come back!” Gabriel shouted, his voice raw.

“There’s no time,” Ezio rasped. Then he roared, “Take our sisters and go! Hurry!”

“How touching,” Soren said with a low laugh, though there was not a trace of warmth in his eyes.

My father gritted his teeth and shoved Luca forward. “Luca, get them out of here!”

Now free, Luca grabbed Vera and me and staggered backward, dragging us with him.

A gunshot suddenly cracked through the room as a bullet tore through the floor-to-ceiling window and struck the floor beside Luca’s feet.

Vera screamed.

“Trying to leave?” Soren asked with a cold smile as he tapped his earpiece twice.

Red laser dots appeared one after another, settling directly on every forehead. “Did I say you were allowed to move?”

“Do you understand now?” Soren’s voice remained calm, but every word carried the arrogance of a man convinced he had already won.

“My men are everywhere outside, and none of you are getting out of here.”

My father’s voice trembled as he nearly begged, “Soren, I’ll give you all the territory and assets you want!”

“Just let my children go, and you can take my life if that’s what you want!”

Soren shook his head and answered viciously, “Old man, I didn’t agree when you begged me earlier, and you don’t get to name your price now.”

“Your son injured me, so how are we going to settle that debt? Maybe I should choose one of you and send them to the grave first.”

The shard of glass slipped from Ezio’s trembling fingers and hit the floor.

Soren slowly wiped away the thin line of blood on his neck, rolled his wrist, and looked at them with open contempt. “For all the Valenti family’s bluster, none of you have any real backbone.”

I remained standing in the shadows without moving an inch as I silently continued the countdown in my head.

Ten... nine... eight... seven...