CHAPTER 8 — The Man the World Thought Had Died
A deafening explosion lit up the night sky.
The entire hospital erupted into flames.
Windows shattered for blocks.
The roof collapsed inward.
News helicopters captured the terrifying scene live.
Reporters gasped.
"The hospital is gone..."
"No one could have survived that."
Within minutes...
Every television station carried the same breaking headline.
"NOTORIOUS MAFIA BOSS VINCENZO MORETTI PRESUMED DEAD AFTER HEROIC HOSPITAL RESCUE."
The city fell silent.
People who had hated him...
Could hardly believe what they were seeing.
A man once feared as a monster had given his life to save children.
Three days later...
A memorial service was held outside the ruins.
Twenty-three rescued children stood in the front row, each holding a white rose.
Sofia held Isabella tightly.
Neither of them spoke.
Ethan quietly placed a small teddy bear beside Vincenzo's photograph.
Marco's body was never recovered.
Neither was Vincenzo's.
The government officially declared them dead.
Life slowly moved on.
Or so everyone believed.
Two thousand miles away...
High in the snow-covered mountains of northern Canada...
An old wooden cabin sat hidden among the pine trees.
Inside...
A bearded man slowly opened his eyes.
His chest was wrapped in bandages.
His body covered in burns.
An elderly doctor smiled.
"You were lucky."
"The explosion should have killed you."
The man stared silently at the ceiling.
"I didn't survive because I was lucky."
"I survived because someone pushed me into the river."
The doctor frowned.
"Who?"
Before he could answer...
The cabin door opened.
A familiar voice echoed through the room.
"You still owe me a bottle of whiskey."
The man looked up.
His eyes widened.
Standing in the doorway...
Bruised but alive...
...was Marco.
The two old friends burst into relieved laughter.
Marco tossed a newspaper onto the bed.
The front page showed Vincenzo's memorial.
"We're officially dead."
Vincenzo smiled for the first time in years.
"Good."
"The Devil died in that hospital."
He slowly looked out at the falling snow.
"But a father..."
"...still has unfinished business."
At that exact moment...
Marco's satellite phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown sender.
Only one sentence.
"Alessandro DeLuca is still alive... and he has taken another child."
Vincenzo's smile disappeared.
He quietly reached for the pistol lying beside the bed.
May you like
"The war..."
"...has only just begun."
