Chapter 1 - The Soup Tactic
Victor took another confident step toward the paralyzed mafia boss.
The two armed men beside him kept their suppressed pistols perfectly aimed at Frankie's chest.
Jonah remained completely motionless in his motorized wheelchair.
His dark eyes were locked entirely onto his rival's scarred face.
The tension in the grand foyer was suffocating, smelling heavily of rain and gunpowder.
Stella watched the terrifying scene unfold from the shadows of the kitchen doorway.
She realized Jonah had no physical leverage to defend his own life in this situation.
Her heart pounded violently against her ribs.
Normal civilian logic screamed at her to press the hidden panic button under the kitchen counter and run.
Instead, Stella grabbed the massive, scalding-hot pot of ruined minestrone soup from the stove.
She marched directly into the foyer, holding the heavy metal pot with oven mitts.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," Stella announced loudly, her voice echoing off the marble walls.
Victor and his men flinched in pure surprise, their weapons wavering for a fraction of a second.
Stella did not hesitate.
She violently hurled the entire pot of boiling liquid and hot vegetables directly onto the two armed men.
The searing heat struck their faces and hands, causing them to scream in absolute agony.
They dropped their weapons instantly, desperately clawing at the boiling broth burning their skin.
Frankie moved with terrifying, lightning-fast precision.
He drew his own weapon and shot both burned men perfectly in their kneecaps before they could recover.
Victor lunged toward Jonah in a desperate, blind rage, pulling a combat knife from his leather coat.
Jonah calmly pressed a hidden button on the armrest of his wheelchair.
A high-voltage electric taser deployed violently from the footrest of the chair, striking Victor squarely in the chest.
Victor convulsed wildly and crashed onto the wet marble floor, twitching uncontrollably.
The grand foyer descended into complete silence, broken only by the groans of the bleeding men.
Jonah looked down at Victor's convulsing body with utter disgust.
Then, he slowly turned his intense gaze toward Stella.
Stella was still holding the empty soup pot, her chest heaving with heavy breaths.
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She expected Jonah to yell at her for foolishly interfering in a deadly syndicate war.
Instead, Jonah picked up a fallen gun from the floor with a shaking hand and aimed it directly at Frankie's head.
