Chapter 6 – THE DEVIL’S BARGAIN

The SUV swerved as Matteo slammed his fist against the steering wheel.

“If you touch them, Serena—” Matteo roared.

“You have two hours,” Serena interrupted, her voice sickeningly sweet. “The old docks. Come alone. Bring Oliver. No cops. No guards. Or you’ll be burying your family for real this time.”

The screen went black.

The silence in the car was suffocating.

Oliver was crying softly in the backseat, clutching Mr. Buttons. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him tightly against my chest.

“I’m not letting her take him,” I said fiercely, looking at Matteo in the rearview mirror. “I don’t care what she threatened. You cannot give her Oliver.”

Matteo’s eyes met mine in the mirror. They were cold, calculating, and absolutely lethal.

“I’m not giving her my son, Emma,” Matteo said quietly. “I’m giving her a grave.”

Elena racked her shotgun in the passenger seat. “Carlo will have the docks surrounded. There will be at least thirty men.”

“Let them come,” Matteo said.

He picked up a burner phone from the center console and dialed a single number.

“It’s me,” Matteo said into the receiver. “Execute Protocol Omega.”

He hung up.

“What is Protocol Omega?” I asked.

“It’s what happens when a mafia boss decides he no longer wants to be a boss,” Matteo replied. “It’s the nuclear option.”

We drove in silence for an hour until we reached a desolate stretch of coastline. The old docks loomed in the fog, a rotting wooden structure extending into the black, churning water.

Parked at the entrance were five black sedans. Carlo’s men were patrolling the perimeter with assault rifles.

Matteo stopped the SUV a mile down the road, hidden in the trees.

He turned to me.

“Emma. Take Oliver and Elena. There is a safe house ten miles north. Elena has the coordinates.”

“No,” I said.

Matteo blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Oliver needs to know his family didn’t abandon him,” I said, my voice trembling but firm. “I am going to get Isabella and those babies out while you distract Carlo.”

Matteo stared at me. “You are a twenty-four-year-old housemaid. These are professional killers.”

“I’m the woman who figured out your fiancée was poisoning your son,” I shot back. “And they won’t be looking for a maid.”

Elena chuckled softly. “I like her.”

Matteo looked at me for a long time. Finally, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small silver pistol. He handed it to me.

“Safety is off,” he said. “Don’t hesitate.”

I took the gun. It was heavy and cold.

Matteo opened the door. “I’m going to walk through the front gate. When the shooting starts, you slip in through the back water-entrance.”

He leaned in and kissed Oliver on the forehead. “Be brave, buddy. Daddy is bringing Mommy home.”

Matteo walked away, disappearing into the fog.

Elena and I crept through the marsh grass, Oliver holding tightly to my hand. We reached the icy water beneath the docks. The rotting wood smelled of fish and gasoline.

Above us, we heard Matteo’s voice echo across the pier.

“Carlo!” Matteo shouted. “I’m here.”

A massive spotlight clicked on, blindingly bright.

Through the cracks in the floorboards above, I saw Carlo and Serena standing near the edge of the dock. Isabella was tied to a chair next to them, looking bruised but defiant. The two infant car seats were dangerously close to the edge of the water.

“Where is the boy?” Carlo demanded, raising a hand to stop his snipers from firing.

“Safe,” Matteo said calmly.

Serena grabbed Isabella by the hair. “I told you to bring him! You think this is a game?”

“No,” Matteo said. He reached into his coat and pulled out a thick leather ledger.

Carlo’s arrogant smirk instantly vanished.

“That’s right, Carlo,” Matteo said. “The master ledger. Every bribe, every murder, every politician you own. If I don’t punch in a code every ten minutes, this gets emailed to the FBI, the CIA, and every rival family in the country.”

Carlo went pale. “You’re bluffing.”

“Shoot me and find out,” Matteo challenged.

While all eyes were on Matteo, I hoisted myself up over the back ledge of the dock, hiding behind a stack of rusted shipping crates.

I was only ten feet away from Isabella and the babies.

I caught Isabella’s eye.

She saw me. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t make a sound.

I raised a finger to my lips.

Then, I saw something that made my blood freeze.

The ropes tying Isabella to the chair were already loose.

She wasn’t trapped at all.

Answer One, Open Two.

Isabella looked at Serena, then looked at me, and gave me a nearly imperceptible nod.

She had been waiting for the distraction.

Isabella suddenly stood up, kicking the chair backward directly into Serena’s knees.

Serena shrieked, stumbling toward the edge of the dock.

And chaos erupted.

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