Chapter 4 - The Betrayal
Shards of bulletproof glass rained down on the expensive hardwood floor.
Alessandro tackled Camille and Sophie, shielding them with his own body as suppressed gunfire chewed through the drywall.
"Crawl to the hallway!" he shouted over the deafening noise.
He rolled over, raising his pistol and firing three precise shots into the smoke billowing from the balcony.
Two masked men fell silently to the floor, their weapons clattering uselessly away.
But a third man stepped through the shattered frame, wearing heavy tactical armor.
Alessandro recognized the tactical gear instantly.
It was the elite strike team heavily funded by his uncle's new regime.
He fired twice at the man's chest plate, the impact knocking the heavily armed killer backward.
Alessandro grabbed his spare magazines and sprinted toward the hallway where Camille was hiding.
"We cannot stay here, the entire building is compromised," he told her, pulling her to her feet.
He led them to a hidden access panel in the master bathroom.
He pushed the wall aside, revealing a dark, narrow maintenance shaft that led down to the service levels.
"Climb down the ladder, I am right behind you," he ordered, handing Camille a small flashlight.
They descended into the pitch-black darkness, the sound of heavy boots echoing in the penthouse above them.
Sophie did not cry, but she gripped Alessandro's jacket with a terrifying, silent strength.
They reached the sub-basement just as the building's emergency lockdown sirens began to wail.
Alessandro kicked open a rusty grate and led them out into a damp, forgotten subway access tunnel.
They ran for ten blocks underground, navigating the maze of forgotten New York infrastructure.
They finally emerged through a street-level grate into a quiet, deserted alleyway in Brooklyn.
Camille collapsed against a brick wall, gasping for air as the adrenaline began to wear off.
"We cannot keep running like this," she sobbed, holding her daughter tightly.
"I have a contact, someone who has been loyal to me since I was a teenager," Alessandro said, pulling out a burner phone.
He dialed a secure number and spoke exactly three words in Italian before hanging up.
Ten minutes later, a heavily armored black van pulled into the alleyway.
The side door slid open, revealing Dante, Alessandro's former second-in-command.
Dante stepped out of the van, looking at Alessandro with an expression of profound relief.
"I thought you were dead again, boss," Dante said, reaching out to shake Alessandro's hand.
May you like
Alessandro reached for the handshake, but Dante suddenly pulled a pistol from his waistband.
He pointed the barrel directly at Alessandro's chest.
