Chapter 7 - The Bloodbath in the Pines
The silence in the hospital room stretched to a breaking point. Every second felt like an eternity.
Leo looked at Tommy, shivering in fear. He looked at Clare, whose eyes were begging him not to sacrifice himself. Finally, he looked at his mother, who gave him a subtle, heartbreaking shake of her head—a mother telling her son not to bow to a tyrant.
"You really think I'm that stupid, Franco?" Leo asked softly.
Franco’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second. "Leo, your hands are tied—"
"My hands are empty," Leo interrupted. "But my perimeter isn't."
Before Franco could react, the overhead fluorescent lights shattered in a shower of sparks. Total darkness plunged the room into chaos.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Muzzle flashes erupted from the hallway as heavy suppressors barked in rapid succession. Leo’s loyal enforcers—men he had trusted with his life, stationed outside the facility just in case—breached the outer doors with a deafening flash-bang grenade that rattled the concrete walls.
Franco’s tactical guards panicked, spinning toward the doorway to return fire, breaking their formation.
It was all the opening Leo needed.
With catlike speed, Leo lunged forward, tackling Franco to the linoleum floor just as a hail of bullets shredded the wall where the older man had been standing. Leo pinned his uncle, pressing the heavy steel barrel of his pistol directly beneath Franco’s chin.
"It's over, Uncle," Leo breathed, his voice vibrating with rage. "The family is mine."
Around them, the gunfire subsided into the groans of wounded mercenaries and the heavy breathing of Leo's strike team securing the perimeter. Tommy was pulled to safety by one of Leo's loyal captains, while Clare rushed to the hospital bed to shield Elena from the flying debris.
Franco laughed, a dry, wheezing sound, even with a gun pointed at his throat. "You think killing me solves anything, boy? The Commission... the board... they'll never accept you after a civil war. You'll be hunted for the rest of your—"
Crack.
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Leo struck Franco across the temple with the heavy butt of his pistol, rendering the traitor unconscious instantly.
He stood up, adjusting his suit jacket, his face as cold and hard as granite. "Bind him. Put him in the trunk. We're going home."
