Chapter 7 – The Sister’s Final Play

The damp air of the catacombs felt heavy, suffocating.

Luca stared at the silver charm bracelet in my hand.

Valentina was supposed to be locked in the mansion’s study under heavy guard.

“She bribed them,” Luca deduced, his voice cold and flat. “She bought my men, slipped out, and came here to make sure James and Elena finished the job.”

We had an answer. Valentina’s betrayal wasn’t just financial; she had actively orchestrated the murder attempt tonight.

But it opened a horrifying realization: If Valentina was down here, she was armed, and she knew these tunnels better than anyone.

“We have to keep moving,” Matteo rasaped, leaning heavily against the brick wall. His burned hands were wrapped in his torn shirt. “The smoke will find a way down here eventually.”

I adjusted my grip on Sofia. The little girl was completely silent now, her face buried in my neck, exhausted by the terror.

Luca took the lead, his gun drawn, the penlight sweeping the darkness.

We walked for what felt like miles through the winding, rat-infested tunnels beneath the city. The sound of rushing water grew louder. The river was close.

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the darkness.

“I really didn’t want it to end this way, Luca.”

A bright spotlight clicked on at the end of the tunnel, blinding us.

I squinted against the harsh glare.

Standing on a metal catwalk above the tunnel’s exit grate was Valentina.

She held a sleek, suppressed pistol, aimed directly down at us.

And kneeling beside her on the catwalk, bleeding from a fresh cut on her forehead, was Elena.

“Valentina,” Luca said, stepping in front of us. “Put the gun down. You’re my sister. We can fix this.”

“Fix this?” Valentina laughed, a sharp, manic sound. “You were going to let me rot in prison while you played the benevolent king! I deserve the empire, Luca! I’m smarter than you! I’m more ruthless than you!”

She pointed the gun at Matteo.

“I paid this street trash,” she kicked Elena, “to get rid of our pathetic brother. But she failed. So now, I have to clean up the mess myself.”

Reversal.

Elena hadn’t betrayed Valentina. Valentina had betrayed Elena. The heiress was the true architect of the massacre, tying up all her loose ends at once.

“You kill us, you have nothing,” Luca warned, not moving an inch. “The board won’t follow a fratricide.”

“They won’t know,” Valentina smiled. “The story will be tragic. The brave mafia boss died trying to save his brother from kidnappers. The heartbroken sister inherits the throne. It’s poetic.”

She cocked the gun.

“Say goodbye, Luca.”

“Valentina, wait!” I shouted, stepping out from behind Luca’s broad shoulders.

Valentina’s eyes darted to me, her lip curling in disgust. “What do you want, maid?”

“You dropped something at the mansion,” I lied, my voice echoing loudly in the tunnel.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the wedding ring I had taken off earlier that night. The ring James had given me.

“James told me to give this to you,” I said, holding the gold band up in the light. “He said the engraving on the inside holds the account numbers for his offshore accounts. The money he stole from you.”

Valentina froze.

Greed warring with her murderous intent.

“Throw it up here,” she ordered.

“No,” I said, stepping closer to the metal stairs leading up to the catwalk. “If you want it, you have to look at it yourself.”

Valentina hesitated.

She took one step down the metal stairs.

That was the distraction Elena needed.

With a scream of pure rage, Elena lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Valentina’s legs.

The two women tumbled backward, crashing hard onto the metal grating of the catwalk.

The gun went off, the bullet sparking harmlessly against the brick wall.

“Move!” Luca shouted.

We scrambled up the stairs, pushing past the fighting women, and burst through the heavy iron grate out into the freezing night air.

TITLE: The Dawn Of Justice

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