Chapter 7 - The Mother’s Ultimatum
The heavy utility truck tore through the manicured golf course, its tires ripping up the pristine green turf. Gabriel drove with reckless precision, the headlights switched off to avoid drawing attention. They navigated by the pale moonlight, racing toward the distant tree line where the highway lay hidden.
In the rearview mirror, the estate was a glowing beacon of smoke and fire. The pyrotechnic distraction had worked flawlessly, but Gabriel knew the window of confusion was closing rapidly.
“They’re going to realize we didn’t go to the loading dock,” Daniel yelled from the back of the cab, keeping his rifle trained out the shattered rear window.
Suddenly, a massive black SUV surged from the access road ahead, its high beams cutting through the darkness. It swerved sideways, blocking the narrow service path. Two more SUVs pulled up behind it, forming an impenetrable steel barricade.
“Brace!” Gabriel yelled.
He didn’t hit the brakes. He slammed his foot on the accelerator.
The heavy utility truck, reinforced with a steel brush guard designed for hauling timber, slammed into the side of the lead SUV with the force of a freight train. Metal crumpled. Glass exploded. The SUV was shoved violently off the path, rolling into a deep sand trap.
Gabriel spun the steering wheel, trying to squeeze through the gap, but the truck’s axle caught on the wrecked SUV. The engine whined, tires spinning in the mud, but they were stuck.
Immediately, the doors of the remaining SUVs flew open. A dozen heavily armed men poured out, weapons leveled at the trapped truck.
And then, stepping out of the center vehicle, was Teresa Romano.
She wore a dark, elegant trench coat, her silver hair perfectly undisturbed by the chaos. She looked exactly as she had on the phone screen: cold, regal, and absolutely furious.
“Gabriel!” Teresa’s voice echoed across the quiet golf course, amplified by a megaphone. “It is over. Step out of the vehicle, or my men will turn that truck into a coffin.”
Gabriel killed the engine. The silence that followed was suffocating.
He turned to Natalie. “Stay down. Daniel, don’t fire unless they shoot first.”
“Gabriel, they’ll kill you,” Bianca sobbed, clutching his arm.
“No, they won’t,” Gabriel said coldly, pulling away from her. “She needs my signature.”
Gabriel pushed the truck door open and stepped out into the night. He raised his hands slowly, showing he was unarmed. The laser sights of twelve rifles immediately painted his chest with red dots.
“Mother,” Gabriel said, his voice carrying clearly in the cool night air. “You’ve ruined a perfectly good tuxedo.”
Teresa stepped forward, her eyes burning with a mix of hatred and grief. “You murdered your father. You poisoned him like a coward.”
“I saved this family from his madness,” Gabriel shot back, his composure flawless. “And now you’re selling us out to the Russos. You think Enzo Russo is going to honor whatever deal you made? The moment I sign those assets over, he’s going to put a bullet in my head, and then he’s going to put one in yours.”
“That is my burden to bear,” Teresa said coldly. “Take him.”
Two men moved forward with zip ties.
But Gabriel smiled. “Before you do that, Mother, you should check your phone.”
Teresa frowned.
“When the fire alarm was tripped in the kitchen,” Gabriel said, “it automatically triggered the venue’s emergency broadcast system. It sends a distress signal to the local precinct. But my coordinator here,” Gabriel gestured slightly toward the truck, “rerouted that signal using the estate’s Wi-Fi. She didn’t call the local cops. she sent a mass text to every capo, lieutenant, and soldier on the Romano payroll.”
Teresa’s face paled.
“I told them the Russos were launching a coup and holding you hostage,” Gabriel lied beautifully. “There are currently three hundred heavily armed Romano loyalists converging on this estate. They will be here in less than two minutes.”
Right on cue, the distant, low rumble of dozens of high-performance engines echoed from the highway. Headlights began appearing over the ridge.
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Teresa looked at the approaching lights, realizing she had been outplayed. The syndicate wouldn’t side with a widow over the reigning boss, not when the boss was alive and fighting.
“Run, Mother,” Gabriel whispered. “Because if they find you standing with Russo men, they will tear you apart.”
