Chapter 15 - The Dragon Falls
“DANTE!”
Lena ran.
Victor disappeared into the darkness.
Nobody followed immediately.
Because Dante had vanished beneath the black water.
Matteo reached the dock first.
He dove.
Lena dropped to her knees.
Seconds became unbearable.
Then Matteo surfaced.
He had Dante.
Federal agents helped pull him onto the dock.
Blood covered Dante’s shirt near his side.
Lena pressed both hands over the wound.
“Stay awake.”
Dante’s eyes opened.
“Bossy.”
She nearly cried from relief.
“You got shot and you’re making jokes?”
“It’s not my best work.”
“Shut up.”
Matteo called for a medic.
Dante grabbed Lena’s wrist.
“Victor?”
“Gone.”
His eyes closed.
“No.”
“Dante.”
“Find…”
“No.”
Lena leaned closer.
“You don’t get to chase anyone.”
His grip weakened.
“Leo.”
“He’s safe.”
Dante exhaled.
Then lost consciousness.
The bullet had passed through his side without hitting major organs.
The doctor called him lucky.
Lena called him impossible.
For two days, she barely left the hospital.
Leo was brought to visit.
The baby sat carefully beside Dante and slapped his hand against Dante’s beard.
Dante opened one eye.
“I survived a gunshot for this?”
Leo laughed.
Lena smiled.
For several minutes, the world felt almost normal.
Then federal agent Rebecca Shaw entered.
She had led the investigation into Domenico and Victor.
“We have a problem.”
Dante looked at her.
“Victor?”
“No confirmed location.”
“Then what?”
“Domenico is dead.”
Dante sat straighter despite the pain.
“How?”
“Poisoned in custody.”
Lena’s stomach dropped.
“Victor?”
Shaw shook her head.
“We don’t know.”
Dante looked toward Matteo.
“If Victor can reach a federal holding facility…”
Shaw finished.
“His network is deeper than we thought.”
Victor was not just running.
He was cleaning.
Witnesses.
Evidence.
Loose ends.
Paul Rainer was moved immediately.
Isabella too.
Erin and Kevin entered protective custody.
Lena refused.
Dante stared at her.
“You are becoming exhausting.”
“I live here now.”
“That was never discussed.”
“Leo needs me.”
Leo, sitting on Dante’s bed, clapped.
Lena pointed.
“See?”
Dante looked at his son.
“Traitor.”
But the truth was deeper.
The estate had begun to feel different with Lena inside it.
Warmer.
Noisier.
Alive.
Rosa adored her.
Leo followed her everywhere he could crawl.
Even Dante found himself expecting her sarcastic remarks at breakfast.
They had become family before either officially acknowledged it.
Dante looked at her.
“Stay.”
Lena raised an eyebrow.
“That easy?”
“For now.”
“Good.”
Agent Shaw cleared her throat.
“There is one more thing.”
She placed a file on the table.
“Victor has contacted the U.S. Attorney.”
Dante frowned.
“For what?”
“A deal.”
Lena stared.
“He wants immunity?”
“Reduced sentence.”
“In exchange for?”
Shaw opened the file.
“A list of every Brotherhood-linked official still working inside federal and state agencies.”
Dante’s expression changed.
“How many?”
“Forty-three.”
Matteo swore.
Shaw continued.
“Judges. Police commanders. Customs officials. Two federal agents.”
Lena understood.
“That’s why he keeps escaping.”
“Yes.”
Dante looked toward the window.
“Will prosecutors take the deal?”
“They’ll listen.”
Lena’s anger rose.
“He murdered my mother.”
Shaw nodded.
“He murdered many people.”
“And he gets to negotiate?”
“Not immunity for homicide.”
“But less time.”
“Possibly.”
Dante saw Lena’s expression.
He recognized it.
The hunger for revenge.
The same thing he carried.
“Lena.”
She looked at him.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Don’t become me.”
Her face softened.
“You’re not as terrible as you think.”
Dante almost laughed.
“That is a very recent development.”
She sat beside him.
“Then keep developing.”
Three days later, Dante returned home.
His recovery was slow.
Victor remained missing.
Then a package arrived.
Inside was a single photograph.
Victor standing beside Elena Valdez.
Young.
Before everything.
On the back he had written:
ASK ISABELLA WHO REALLY STARTED THE FIRE.
Lena stared.
Dante looked toward Isabella, who had been brought under guard.
Her face went pale.
“What did he mean?” Lena asked.
Isabella said nothing.
Dante’s voice hardened.
“Isabella.”
She closed her eyes.
Then whispered:
“Elena started the warehouse fire.”
Lena stepped back.
“What?”
Isabella looked at her.
May you like
“Your mother killed Gabriel.”
---
