Chapter 5 - THE BETRAYAL IN THE DARK
“Drop the drawing, brother.”
Matteo’s voice rang out in the pitch-black garage.
Dante pushed me forcefully behind his broad shoulders. “Matteo. You’re making a mistake you won’t live to regret.”
“No, Dante. You made the mistake,” Matteo sneered. The beam of a tactical flashlight cut through the dark, blinding us. Matteo stood near the exit, a suppressed pistol leveled directly at Dante’s chest. “You went soft. Elena was going to take the syndicate ledgers to the feds so she could run away with Lucy. She was going to destroy our family.”
“She was protecting our daughter from this life!” Dante roared, taking a step forward.
Thwip.
A suppressed bullet grazed Dante’s shoulder, embedding itself in the concrete wall. I screamed, grabbing Dante’s arm.
“Stay back!” Matteo warned. “Celine figured it out. She found Elena packing. Celine wanted to be the lady of this house, so she came to me. We cut the brakes. We took the ledgers. And we waited for you to marry Celine so we could finally take the throne.”
“You murdered my wife,” Dante said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, deadly calm.
“It was business,” Matteo replied.
“And what is this?” Dante gestured to the wrecked car.
“Insurance. I kept the car to hold over Celine’s head in case she ever decided to turn on me. But now that you’ve broken the engagement, I have to accelerate my timeline.”
Matteo raised the gun, aiming at Dante’s head.
“Any last words, boss?”
I didn't think. I reacted.
I grabbed a heavy steel wrench from the mechanic's workbench beside me and hurled it directly at the flashlight in Matteo’s hand.
The heavy wrench shattered the lens. The light died instantly, plunging the garage back into total darkness.
Matteo fired blindly. The bullets pinged loudly off the wrecked car.
Dante didn't hesitate. In the pitch black, he lunged forward, tackling his brother to the oily concrete floor.
The sounds of a brutal, violent struggle filled the garage. Grunts, the sickening thud of fists against bone, and the clattering of the gun sliding across the floor.
I dropped to my knees, frantically feeling around in the dark for the weapon. My hands brushed against cold metal. I grabbed the gun.
“Stop!” I screamed, aiming into the dark.
The fighting stopped.
I found the wall switch and flicked the lights back on.
Dante was kneeling over Matteo, breathing heavily, his knuckles bloody. Matteo was unconscious on the floor, his jaw visibly broken.
Dante stood up, wincing at his grazed shoulder. He looked at me holding the gun, a flicker of genuine respect in his dark eyes.
“You’re braver than most men in my crew, Mara,” he said softly.
He pulled out his phone and made a single, brief call. “Clean up the garage. Matteo goes to the warehouse.”
He hung up, turning to me. “We need to get to Lucy.”
We sprinted back to the house, bursting through the front doors.
The house was eerily silent.
We ran up the stairs to the nursery. I fumbled with my keys, unlocking the deadbolt I had secured an hour ago.
I pushed the door open.
The bed was empty.
Lucy’s purple bag was gone.
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And sitting neatly on the center of the child’s pillow was a single, terrifying object.
A black velvet box, flipped open to reveal Celine’s discarded diamond engagement ring.
