Chapter 6 - The Blood on the Roses
The battle for the Falcone estate was short, brutal, and decisive.
Valerio and his security team, prepared for months for this exact scenario, caught the Lucchese intruders in a deadly crossfire in the rose gardens. The sound of heavy gunfire tore through the quiet autumn night, splintering the white marble fountain and painting the red brick pathways with blood.
Valerio moved like a ghost through the shadows of his own gardens. He was a man who had survived three separate assassination attempts before his twenty-fifth birthday. He knew how to hunt.
Within twenty minutes, the firing stopped.
Six Lucchese soldiers lay dead on the manicured lawns. Two others were pinned down, disarmed, and forced to their knees by Dominic’s men.
Valerio walked down the brick path, his gun still raised, his face a mask of cold, absolute fury. He stopped in front of the two kneeling soldiers.
"Who sent you?" Valerio asked, his voice lower than the wind rustling the dead leaves.
The soldiers remained silent, their eyes filled with defiance.
Valerio didn't hesitate. He raised his weapon and shot the first soldier in the shoulder. The man screamed, collapsing onto the grass, clutching his bleeding arm.
Valerio pointed the gun at the second soldier’s forehead. "I am going to ask you one more time. And then I am going to paint my roses with your brains."
"Lucchese!" the man screamed, his defiance vanishing in an instant. "Manny Lucchese sent us! He wanted us to take the girl! He said if we had the girl, you would hand over the docks!"
Valerio’s eyes narrowed into slivers of silver ice. "Tell Manny Lucchese that he has made his final mistake. He thought he was playing a game of business. But he has threatened my family. And in my family, that is a death sentence."
He turned to Dominic. "Clean this up. And prepare the men. Tonight, we take the fight to their front door."
Valerio ran back into the mansion, his heart hammering against his ribs until he reached the second floor. He threw open the master closet and knocked on the steel door of the panic room.
"Everly! It's me! Open the door!"
The lock clicked, and the door swung open. Everly threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably, her face buried in his chest.
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Valerio held her tightly, his hand gently stroking her hair, his own body shaking with the relief of finding her unharmed.
"You're safe," he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. "You're safe, my love. I’ve got you."
