Chapter 14 - THE LAST DINNER
I had hosted governors in that dining room.
Billionaires.
Judges.
Men who pretended they didn't know how I made my money.
That night, Vincent turned it into an execution chamber.
Luca and I entered through the front doors.
No guns visible.
Vincent’s men searched us.
Then led us inside.
Michael was tied to a chair.
Isabella had wanted to come.
I threatened to lock her in a room.
For once, she listened.
Vincent stood beside the fireplace.
“You look like your father.”
I stopped ten feet away.
“You poisoned him.”
“I freed him.”
Luca laughed.
“You really believe your own garbage.”
Vincent’s smile faded.
“Your father became weak.”
“He wanted to protect us,” I said.
“He wanted to surrender.”
“To who?”
“The future.”
Vincent gestured around the mansion.
“This existed because men like Salvatore understood fear.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“This exists because people like Beatrice clean up after men like us.”
That confused him.
Good.
“You lost, Vincent.”
He smiled.
“I have Michael.”
“The ledger is already public.”
“I can still survive.”
“No.”
Sirens sounded far away.
Not close.
Yet.
His face changed.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Luca smiled.
“Beatrice did.”
Vincent cursed.
He grabbed Michael.
The boy cried out.
I stepped forward.
“Take me.”
“Adrian—” Luca said.
“Take me.”
Vincent aimed at my chest.
“You think you're noble now?”
“No.”
I meant it.
I had done terrible things.
Ordered beatings.
Destroyed lives.
Protected criminals.
No confession could erase that.
But I could choose what happened next.
“I think I'm tired.”
Vincent stared.
“Of what?”
“Becoming you.”
He fired.
The gun clicked.
Empty.
Vincent froze.
Lorenzo’s voice came from behind him.
“I switched the magazine.”
Everyone turned.
Lorenzo stood in the doorway.
Gun raised.
Vincent stared.
“You.”
Lorenzo laughed.
“You were going to kill me.”
“You failed.”
“I served you.”
“You were useful.”
The words destroyed whatever loyalty remained.
Lorenzo aimed at Vincent.
I stepped between them.
“No.”
Lorenzo stared.
“Move.”
“No.”
“He deserves it.”
“Yes.”
“So move.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You protecting him?”
“I'm protecting us.”
“From what?”
“Another twelve years of graves.”
Police sirens grew louder.
Vincent moved suddenly.
He pulled a second pistol from behind his back.
Luca shouted.
Lorenzo fired.
So did Vincent.
Two shots.
Vincent collapsed.
Lorenzo staggered backward.
Michael screamed.
I rushed forward.
Vincent had been hit in the chest.
Lorenzo had been hit in the stomach.
Neither wound looked survivable without immediate help.
Vincent stared at me.
His lips moved.
I knelt.
“What?”
He whispered, “Your father… begged.”
I looked into his eyes.
“No.”
He smiled weakly.
“Yes.”
I leaned closer.
“He begged me to protect Luca.”
Vincent’s smile disappeared.
“And I should've listened.”
Police stormed the mansion seconds later.
Weapons raised.
I lifted my hands.
Luca did the same.
Behind us, Beatrice entered with Isabella.
Of course she had come.
Michael ran to his mother.
Lorenzo lay on the floor staring at the ceiling.
He turned his head toward me.
“Adrian.”
I crouched beside him.
He breathed painfully.
“Was I ever… family?”
For all my anger, I couldn't lie.
“Yes.”
His eyes filled.
“That’s worse.”
Paramedics reached him.
They carried him out alive.
Barely.
Vincent wasn't as lucky.
The man who had controlled our family for three decades died on the same marble floor where my mother once served him Christmas dinner.
When the police officer approached me with handcuffs, I didn't resist.
Luca stared.
“You sure?”
“No.”
The officer cuffed me.
Beatrice looked at me.
For the first time since I'd met her, I didn't feel like a boss looking at an employee.
I felt like a man looking at the person who had saved his family.
She nodded once.
And I understood.
May you like
This wasn't the end.
But the killing was.
