Chapter 3:the revenge begins
893 Words
Antonio Rossi had not slept in four days.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
Every room reminded him of his wife. Her favorite book still lay open on the living room table. Her coffee mug sat untouched in the kitchen. A light sweater still hung behind the front door, waiting for someone who would never wear it again.
He stopped outside Maria's bedroom.
The door was slightly open.
She had finally fallen asleep after crying herself into exhaustion.
Antonio watched her for a long moment.
"I couldn't save your mother," he whispered.
"But I swear..."
"I'll make the man responsible pay."
He quietly closed the door.
Minutes later, he entered the basement beneath the house.
A thick steel door unlocked with a metallic click.
Inside, nearly a dozen armed men stood waiting.
Some had worked beside Antonio for over twenty years.
None of them needed an explanation.
One of them placed a folder on the table.
"Our informants confirmed it."
Antonio opened it.
A photograph of Leonardo Moretti stared back at him.
"So this is the man."
Another man spread a map across the table.
"Our sources say he'll inspect one of his factories tonight."
Antonio narrowed his eyes.
"How reliable is the information?"
"Very."
None of them knew the information had been leaked deliberately.
The anonymous tip had been delivered exactly as planned.
He stood inside Leonardo's office overlooking the harbor.
Leonardo adjusted his jacket.
"The men are ready?"
"They're waiting at the factory," Victor replied.
Leonardo nodded.
"I want Marco found alive."
"I still don't believe he betrayed us."
Victor lowered his head respectfully.
"As you wish."
Leonardo walked toward the door.
"I'll bring him home myself."
Victor smiled politely.
"Good luck."
Only after Leonardo disappeared did the smile slowly fade into something else
"You're still so kind..."
Across the city, Marco sat inside an abandoned apartment.
The television replayed footage of the restaurant m******e the was uneasy because of him people were killed .
He switched it off in frustration.
"This isn't right."
He had spent days piecing everything together.
Someone wanted Leonardo to chase him.
He grabbed his phone.
Leonardo didn't answer.
Again.
Voicemail.
Marco cursed under his breath.
He called Victor.
No answer.
Something was terribly wrong.
Without another thought, Marco grabbed his jacket and rushed into the night.
At the abandoned factory, rain poured across the rusted rooftops.
Leonardo arrived with six armed guards.
The building looked deserted.
Too deserted.
His instincts sharpened immediately.
"Spread out," he ordered.
The guards moved into position.
Hidden on a nearby rooftop, Antonio watched through the scope of his rifle.
His breathing remained steady.
Images of the restaurant flashed through his mind.
His wife smiling.
Maria screaming.
The white sheet covering his wife's body.
He lowered the rifle.
"No innocent people," he reminded himself.
Only Leonardo.
He raised one hand.
Every member of his team prepared their weapons.
Antonio brought his hand down.
Gunfire erupted.
The first wave caught Leonardo's guards completely by surprise.
Bullets shattered windows.
Concrete exploded.
The quiet factory transformed into a battlefield.
Leonardo drew his pistol and fired back.
"Move!" he shouted.
His men returned fire from behind machinery.
Antonio advanced carefully through the smoke.
His eyes never left Leonardo.
The man responsible.
The man who had destroyed his family.
Leonardo fired twice before another bullet slammed into his leg.
He cried out and collapsed behind a steel pillar.
Blood quickly spread across his trousers.
Antonio emerged from the smoke with his pistol raised.
Finally.
After days of grief...
Weeks of rage...
It was over.
Leonardo looked up at him.
Despite the pain, his expression held confusion more than fear.
"I don't know who you are," Leonardo said through gritted teeth.
"But this doesn't have to end like this."
Antonio's hands shook.
"My wife begged for her life."
"You took her from me."
Realization slowly crossed Leonardo's face.
"The restaurant..."
Antonio stepped closer.
"You murdered innocent people."
"I never..."
Leonardo stopped speaking.
His eyes suddenly shifted beyond Antonio's shoulder.
For the briefest moment...
Shock filled his face.
Antonio frowned.
"What are you looking at?"
A gunshot exploded behind him.
Antonio instinctively turned.
Smoke drifted through the darkness.
Someone had fired.
Leonardo's body jerked violently.
A second bullet struck his chest.
His pistol slipped from his hand.
He collapsed onto the cold concrete.
Antonio stood frozen.
"I..."
His ears rang from the gunfire.
By the time he looked back toward the shadows, whoever had fired was already gone.
His own men rushed inside.
"Boss!"
"We have to leave!"
Police sirens echoed in the distance.
Antonio looked once more at Leonardo's lifeless body.
His mind raced.
Had he...
Or had someone else...
There was no time to think.
He disappeared into the night with his men.
Hidden high above the factory floor, a lone figure watched through the darkness.
Victor Romano slowly lowered the suppressed pistol in his hand.
His face remained emotionless.
He turned and vanished before the police could see him
Hours later...
A quiet ringtone shattered the silence inside Lucas Moretti's apartment.
Still awake, Lucas glanced at the unfamiliar number before answering.
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end trembled.
"Lucas..."
"There has been an attack."
A cold chill ran through his body.
"What happened?"
There was a long silence.
Then came the words that would change his life forever.
"...Your father has been murdered.”
- Writer
