Chapter4
1196 Words
Chapter Four
Too Late
The call lasted less than a minute.
Yet it changed everything.
Vito stood motionless in his office, staring at the dark phone screen in his hand.
The last sound he had heard still echoed inside his head.
The crash.
The scream.
Then silence.
A silence far worse than any gunshot.
Marco was already moving.
“We traced the call.”
Vito’s head snapped up.
“Where?”
“An abandoned estate outside the city limits.”
“How long?”
Marco glanced at the technician.
“Twenty-five minutes.”
Twenty-five minutes.
It felt like a lifetime.
Vito grabbed his gun.
“Get the cars.”
Within seconds, Romano soldiers flooded the headquarters.
Weapons loaded.
Engines roaring.
No one needed instructions.
Everyone knew what was at stake.
If Luna was there, they would bring her home.
If someone had hurt her…
God help them.
The convoy tore through the dark roads leading out of Valoria.
Rain hammered against the windows.
Lightning split the sky.
Vito sat in the back seat, his jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.
Every second felt unbearable.
His thoughts replayed Luna’s words.
The people hunting me are inside your empire.
The sentence refused to leave his mind.
Inside your empire.
Not outside.
Not rival families.
Not Salvatore’s men alone.
Someone from his organization.
Someone he trusted.
Someone who sat at his table.
The realization was enough to make his blood boil.
Beside him, Marco remained unusually quiet.
Finally, he spoke.
“Do you think she knows who it is?”
Vito stared out the window.
“Yes.”
“And that’s why they’re after her.”
“Yes.”
Marco exhaled slowly.
Neither man wanted to say the next part aloud.
If Luna knew the traitor’s identity, she was in more danger than anyone realized.
The abandoned estate emerged through the rain like a ghost.
A massive iron gate hung open.
One side broken.
The property beyond looked deserted.
Dark.
Silent.
Wrong.
Vito stepped out before the vehicles fully stopped.
“Move.”
Dozens of soldiers spread across the grounds.
Weapons raised.
Searching.
The main house stood at the center of the property.
Several windows were shattered.
The front door hung crookedly from one hinge.
Evidence of a struggle.
Vito entered first.
The interior looked like a battlefield.
Furniture overturned.
Broken glass everywhere.
Blood stained one wall.
Fresh blood.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
“Luna!”
No response.
Only silence.
The soldiers searched room after room.
Nothing.
No bodies.
No hostages.
No Luna.
Marco appeared at the top of the staircase.
“Clear.”
Vito swore under his breath.
Again.
Too late.
Always too late.
Then a voice shouted from below.
“Boss!”
Everyone rushed toward the basement.
A hidden door stood open behind an old bookshelf.
Vito descended immediately.
The underground room looked different from the rest of the estate.
Someone had been living here.
Maps covered the walls.
Stacks of documents lay scattered across tables.
Several laptops sat smashed on the floor.
Someone had destroyed everything before leaving.
Not everything.
Vito’s eyes narrowed.
A single photograph remained pinned to a corkboard.
Almost as if it had been left intentionally.
He approached slowly.
Then froze.
The photograph showed Don Salvatore meeting with several men.
Most faces were unfamiliar.
But one stood out.
A familiar silhouette.
A familiar build.
Not enough to identify.
Yet enough to recognize.
Someone from the Romano organization.
Marco stepped beside him.
“What the hell…”
Vito didn’t answer.
His mind was racing.
The traitor wasn’t just real.
Luna had proof.
Proof someone desperately wanted hidden.
Three hours earlier…
Luna ran through the woods.
Branches tore at her clothes.
Rain soaked her hair.
Her lungs burned.
Behind her, men shouted.
Flashlights pierced the darkness.
They had found the estate.
Found the bunker.
Found her.
The attack had happened moments after her call with Vito.
Someone had tracked the signal.
Someone had been waiting.
Sofia stumbled beside her.
“We have to keep moving.”
Luna nodded.
Fear pounded through every nerve in her body.
The photograph was tucked safely inside her jacket.
The only surviving piece of evidence.
The most important evidence.
The thing men were willing to kill for.
A gunshot echoed through the trees.
Sofia cried out.
Luna spun around.
“Sofia!”
“I’m okay.”
The bullet had missed.
Barely.
They continued running.
The forest seemed endless.
Every shadow felt dangerous.
Every sound made Luna jump.
Then suddenly—
Headlights appeared ahead.
A vehicle.
Black.
Waiting.
Both women froze.
The driver’s door opened.
A tall man stepped out.
For one horrifying second, Luna thought they were trapped.
Then the man raised his hands.
“Don’t shoot.”
Sofia immediately pointed her weapon.
“Who are you?”
The stranger looked directly at Luna.
His expression unreadable.
“I was sent by your mother.”
Luna’s breath caught.
“My mother is dead.”
“I know.”
The man reached into his coat.
Sofia tightened her grip.
“Don’t.”
Slowly, he pulled out a silver locket.
Luna’s eyes widened.
She recognized it instantly.
The locket had belonged to her mother.
The one she had lost years ago.
The stranger extended it.
“Your mother knew this day would come.”
The world seemed to stop.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Gabriel.”
The man’s gaze hardened.
“And if you want to survive what’s coming, you need to leave Valoria immediately.”
Back at Romano Headquarters, dawn approached.
No one had slept.
Vito sat alone in the war room.
The recovered photograph lay before him.
His eyes studied it repeatedly.
Searching for clues.
Searching for answers.
Searching for the man responsible.
The door opened.
Antonio entered.
“Any news?”
“No.”
The older man approached carefully.
“You should rest.”
Vito laughed humorlessly.
The sound sent chills through the room.
“Rest?”
Antonio remained silent.
Vito looked up.
Dark circles shadowed his eyes.
For the first time since Antonio had known him, Vito looked genuinely lost.
“I was supposed to protect her.”
The confession was quiet.
Raw.
Painful.
Antonio sighed.
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
His gaze returned to the photograph.
Someone inside his empire had betrayed him.
Someone had driven Luna into hiding.
Someone had nearly gotten her killed.
And when Vito found them…
There would be no mercy.
None.
A knock interrupted the silence.
One of the younger soldiers entered.
Breathing heavily.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found something.”
The soldier handed over a file.
Vito opened it.
His eyes scanned the first page.
Then the second.
Then the third.
The room grew colder.
Antonio frowned.
“What is it?”
Slowly, Vito lowered the documents.
His face had gone completely expressionless.
The most dangerous expression of all.
Because the records showed something impossible.
For months, millions of dollars had been secretly transferred out of Romano accounts.
Someone high-ranking had authorized every transaction.
Someone with access very few people possessed.
Only five names were capable of approving those transfers.
And one of them…
Was Marco.
- Writer
