Chapter 8 - The Viper’s Nest
Tessa raised her gun and aimed it directly at David’s smiling face.
Mateo leaned heavily against the brick wall, too weak to draw his own weapon.
"Give me one reason not to blow your head off," Tessa warned, her voice devoid of its usual warmth.
David casually raised his hands in surrender, completely unbothered by the barrel pointed at him.
"Because I am the only one who can get you inside the Romano estate before sunrise."
"You tried to kill us at the docks," Mateo growled, clutching his bleeding side.
"I was putting on a show for Giancarlo’s men," David replied smoothly.
"If I wanted you dead, Mateo, you would have never made it out of that restaurant."
Tessa kept the gun perfectly steady.
"Why should we trust you?"
David sighed, stepping out of the limousine and opening the back door for them.
"Because Salvatore Vitiello is my godfather, and I have been embedded in the Romano family as a spy for ten years."
Mateo’s eyes widened in genuine shock.
"My father never told me."
"Your father trusts no one," David corrected. "Not even his own blood."
David gestured to the warm leather interior of the car.
"We have a private jet waiting at O'Hare. Get in before you bleed to death on the sidewalk."
Tessa looked at Mateo, who gave a reluctant nod.
They climbed into the back of the limousine, keeping their weapons drawn.
Within an hour, they were airborne, flying in a luxurious private jet high above the clouds.
Tessa raided the plane’s first-aid kit, cleaning and restitching Mateo’s wound while he gritted his teeth in silence.
David poured himself a glass of expensive scotch and sat across from them.
"Giancarlo has summoned all the capos to the upstate estate," David explained.
"He plans to execute Salvatore at dawn to officially take back the throne."
Tessa finished bandaging Mateo and sat back, wiping the blood from her hands.
"Why now?" she asked. "Why wait forty years to take revenge?"
David swirled the amber liquid in his glass.
"Because forty years ago, Elisabetta didn't just steal their money."
"She stole the ledger that contains the names of every politician, judge, and police commissioner the Romanos ever bought."
Mateo looked at Tessa, realization dawning on his pale face.
"Without that ledger, the Romanos lost all their political protection overnight."
"Exactly," David nodded. "They were hunted like dogs by the FBI while the Vitiellos took their territory."
David leaned forward, staring intently at Tessa.
"Giancarlo believes you know where the real ledger is hidden."
"I don't," Tessa fired back. "I just found out my name wasn't Hayes yesterday."
"It doesn't matter what you know," David warned her. "He will torture you until you invent a truth he likes."
The plane landed smoothly at a private airstrip nestled in the dark, forested mountains of New York.
A heavily armored SUV was waiting on the tarmac.
David drove them through winding, treacherous mountain roads until they reached high iron gates.
Guards armed with assault rifles patrolled the perimeter.
David rolled down the window and showed a special ring to the guards, who immediately opened the gates.
They drove up a long gravel driveway to a massive, gothic stone mansion that looked like a fortress.
"We go in quietly," David instructed as they parked near the servant's entrance.
They slipped into the mansion through the kitchens, avoiding the main halls where the Romano soldiers were partying.
David led them down a damp, stone spiral staircase into the deep wine cellars.
At the end of a long, dark corridor was a heavy iron door guarded by two men.
David stepped out of the shadows, pulling a silenced pistol, and dropped both guards with two quiet shots.
He pulled the keys from a guard's belt and unlocked the heavy door.
Tessa and Mateo rushed inside the damp, freezing cell.
Chained to the wall, bruised and broken, was Salvatore Vitiello.
The old man looked up, his eyes widening as he saw his son.
"Mateo," Salvatore breathed out, coughing violently.
Mateo rushed forward, using the keys to unlock his father's chains.
"We are getting you out of here, Papa."
Salvatore grabbed Mateo's collar, pulling him close with terrifying urgency.
"You fool," the old man hissed. "You brought her right to him."
Before Mateo could ask what he meant, the iron door slammed shut behind them with a deafening clang.
The lock engaged from the outside.
Tessa spun around and stared through the iron bars of the small window in the door.
May you like
David stood on the other side, smiling as he twirled the keys around his finger.
"Like I said, Mateo," David laughed softly. "Your father trusts no one."
