Chapter 4 - The Price of a Soul
The basement of the Rossi mansion smelled of damp stone and terror.
A surviving attacker from the raid was strapped to a steel chair, his face bruised and bloody. Vincent stood before him, stripped to his shirtsleeves, his hands covered in wraps. He didn't look like a billionaire; he looked like an executioner.
Elena stood at the top of the stairs, watching in horror, but she didn't stop him. They had taken her baby. She would make a deal with the devil himself to get Lily back.
"Who has her?" Vincent asked, his voice deadly calm, devoid of any human emotion.
The man spat blood onto Vincent’s leather shoes. "You're already dead, Rossi. The Grandmaster has the girl. You'll never find her."
Vincent didn't blink. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a surgical scalpel. "The human body has over two hundred bones. I can break every single one of them without killing you. Or, I can start cutting. Where is the Grandmaster?"
Ten minutes of agonizing screams later, the man broke.
"The docks!" the man shrieked, weeping. "Pier 42! She’s being loaded onto a cargo ship bound for Europe in two hours! Please, no more!"
Vincent turned and walked away, tossing the scalpel onto a table. He walked up the stairs to Elena, his face cold.
"Stay here with Chloe and Maya. Lock down the vault room. I'm bringing our daughter home."
"I'm coming with you," Elena demanded, grabbing his arm.
"No," Vincent said, touching her cheek with a rare gentleness that contrasted sharply with the blood on his hands. "It’s going to be a bloodbath, Elena. I need to know you and the other girls are safe. Trust me."
Elena looked into his ice-blue eyes—the same eyes their daughters had. For the first time in seven years, she saw the man who used to hold her when she had nightmares. "Bring her back, Vincent. Please."
Vincent took fifty of his most loyal, battle-hardened soldiers and a fleet of black SUVs. They tore through the streets of New York, ignoring traffic lights, heading straight for the desolate, foggy docks of Pier 42.
When they arrived, the pier was dark, shrouded in a thick mist. A massive container ship towered over the water, its engines humming.
Vincent raised his hand, signaling his men to fan out.
Suddenly, floodlights snapped on, blinding them.
Dozens of armed men appeared from behind shipping containers, trapping Vincent's convoy in a crossfire. Standing on the gangplank of the ship was an old man with silver hair, wearing an immaculate bespoke suit. Beside him stood a massive bodyguard holding seven-year-old Lily, who was crying out for her mother.
"Vincent Rossi," the old man called out, his voice echoing over the water. "I am Grandmaster Vance. Your father owed the Consortium fifty billion dollars before he died—a debt he tried to erase by hiding his assets. Since you took his throne, the debt falls to you. But I think I prefer this payment instead." He pointed to Lily.
"Let the girl go, Vance!" Vincent shouted, his hand hovering over his gun. "I will wire you the fifty billion within the hour! Take my entire empire! Just give me my daughter!"
Grandmaster Vance laughed, a dry, chilling sound. "Oh, Vincent. It was never about the money. It’s about bloodline purification. Your father agreed to marry you to a syndicate heiress. You broke that pact for a commoner. This child shouldn't exist. She will be raised by us, molded into a tool, or disposed of if she proves useless."
Lily caught sight of Vincent in the floodlights. "Daddy!" she screamed, her tiny voice breaking. "Daddy, help me!"
The word Daddy shattered something inside Vincent's soul. He had never heard it before. It was the most beautiful and painful sound he had ever experienced.
"Kill them all," Grandmaster Vance ordered coldly, turning to walk up the gangplank with Lily.
"Fire!" Vincent roared.
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The pier erupted into an absolute warzone.
HOOK FOR FACEBOOK: She called him "Daddy" right before they dragged her away. Now, Vincent Rossi is about to show the world why you never threaten a mafia king's child... Chapter 5 is pure adrenaline!
