CHAPTER 6 — The Price of Survival
The hotel windows exploded.
Guests screamed.
Glass rained across the marble floor.
Vincent tackled Isabella behind a stone pillar as suppressed gunfire ripped through the lobby.
These weren't ordinary assassins.
They never shouted.
Never missed.
Never hesitated.
Each wore identical black suits without a single emblem.
No fingerprints.
No tattoos.
No names.
Only numbers.
Vincent eliminated two attackers.
Isabella disabled another with perfect precision.
But more kept arriving.
Finally, a black limousine stopped outside.
Every gunman immediately lowered their weapons.
An elderly woman stepped out.
Elegant.
Calm.
Wearing white gloves.
She looked no more threatening than a retired grandmother.
Yet every assassin bowed their heads.
She smiled gently at Vincent.
"You've caused me quite a bit of trouble."
Vincent had never seen her before.
"Who are you?"
She removed one glove.
On her wrist was the same symbol found inside Father Gabriel's files.
A silver phoenix.
"My name no longer matters."
"I've had many."
"But your brother once called me..."
The Queen.
Vincent's eyes widened.
His brother had mentioned that name only once before disappearing.
He always believed it was a myth.
The old woman looked toward Isabella.
"You've become an inconvenience."
Isabella quietly raised her pistol.
"So have you."
The Queen laughed softly.
"You still don't understand."
She looked back at Vincent.
"I didn't destroy your family."
"I created it."
Silence swallowed the room.
Vincent felt as though the floor had vanished beneath him.
"What did you say?"
The Queen smiled.
"You were never chosen to become a mafia boss."
"I chose you."
"And now..."
"...it's time for your final test."
She entered the limousine.
Within seconds, every assassin disappeared into the night as mysteriously as they had arrived.
Only one thing remained on the hotel floor.
A black envelope.
Inside was an invitation.
WELCOME TO THE COUNCIL OF SHADOWS.
Below it...
one handwritten sentence made Vincent's hands tremble.
May you like
"Everything you've believed about your family is a lie."
TO BE CONTINUED...
