CHAPTER 5 — The Sister Who Pointed a Gun at Her Own Brother
The monastery stood in complete silence.
Rain poured over the ancient stone walls.
Outside, twenty black SUVs formed a perfect circle around the building. Armed men stepped into position with military precision.
At their center stood Sophia Torino.
Vincent's younger sister.
The last person in the world he believed would betray him.
She raised a black pistol.
The laser settled directly on the monastery door.
Marco cursed under his breath.
"We're surrounded."
Emma instinctively moved closer to Vincent.
Adrian quietly reached for an old hunting rifle hidden beneath a wooden bench.
Vincent, however, never took his eyes off Sophia.
"No..."
"There has to be another explanation."
A loudspeaker crackled outside.
Sophia's calm voice echoed through the storm.
"Vincent."
"You have exactly sixty seconds."
"Come outside alone."
"Or everyone inside dies."
Marco slammed another magazine into his rifle.
"This is a trap."
Vincent remained silent.
Then...
Emma noticed something strange.
Sophia never blinked.
Never shifted her stance.
But her left hand...
Hidden behind her back...
Was making tiny movements.
Three fingers.
Pause.
Two fingers.
Pause.
One finger.
Emma frowned.
"She's signaling..."
Vincent looked carefully.
The movements repeated.
Three.
Two.
One.
Then Sophia deliberately lowered her thumb.
Vincent's eyes widened.
"It's Morse code."
"What?"
"She's counting down to something..."
Exactly as Sophia's hand reached zero—
The first explosion ripped through the convoy.
BOOM!
One SUV erupted into flames.
Another exploded seconds later.
Chaos consumed the courtyard.
Gunfire erupted from the surrounding forest.
Sophia immediately spun around—
Not toward the monastery...
Toward her own soldiers.
She fired three perfect shots.
Three gunmen collapsed instantly.
Marco stared in disbelief.
"What the hell?!"
Sophia shouted,
"NOW!"
Vincent kicked open the monastery doors.
His team charged into the confusion.
Bullets tore through the rain.
Explosions lit up the night.
Sophia sprinted toward Vincent.
He instinctively aimed his pistol.
She ignored it.
Instead...
She threw a small flash drive into his hands.
"You have five minutes."
"Then they'll find us."
Vincent grabbed her arm.
"You signed Luca's contract."
Sophia looked directly into his eyes.
"No."
"I forged my own signature."
"What?"
"It was the only way to get close enough."
Marco interrupted.
"Close enough to do what?"
Sophia looked toward the burning convoy.
"To discover who's really in charge."
Vincent frowned.
"You mean Luca?"
Sophia slowly shook her head.
"Luca isn't the boss."
The words hit harder than any bullet.
"What are you talking about?"
"I've spent eighteen months pretending to betray you."
"I let Luca believe I hated you."
"I watched him meet someone."
"Someone he obeys."
Emma whispered,
"Who?"
Sophia swallowed.
"I never saw his face."
"But everyone called him..."
"The Chairman."
Silence.
Vincent had controlled the American underworld for forty years.
He knew every cartel.
Every syndicate.
Every crime family.
He had never heard that name.
Sophia continued,
"The Chairman doesn't control one family."
"He controls them all."
Adrian's expression changed instantly.
"No..."
"It can't be."
Vincent turned toward him.
"You know that name?"
Adrian looked terrified.
"I thought he died thirty years ago."
Before anyone could ask another question—
A sniper's bullet shattered the monastery bell.
Another struck inches from Sophia's head.
"They found us!" Marco yelled.
Sophia pointed toward an abandoned tunnel beneath the church.
"We leave now!"
As they disappeared underground...
One black SUV slowly rolled through the burning wreckage.
Its windows were completely black.
No license plate.
No markings.
Only a silver emblem on the hood.
A chess king.
Inside the vehicle...
Someone quietly watched Vincent escape.
Then smiled.
"Interesting."
"So..."
"The rightful heir finally knows the game."
The mysterious figure closed an old leather notebook.
Across its cover...
One name was engraved in gold.
May you like
PROJECT HEIR
END OF CHAPTER 5
