Chapter 5 - THE DEVIL AT THE FRONT DOORWith a jagged piece of metal scavenged from the broken utility box, Mateo sawed through the heavy plastic zip-ties binding Lorenzo’s wrists and ankles.
The moment the final restraint snapped, the mafia boss didn't groan or weakness-show. He stood up with terrifying speed, his massive frame casting a long, menacing shadow under the flickering bulb. Lorenzo rolled his shoulders, the sound of popping joints echoing like gunshots in the quiet cellar. He walked over to the corner, picked up a heavy iron pipe from a toolbox, and spat a mouthful of metallic blood onto the floor.
“Vincent thinks he’s claimed my house,” Lorenzo growled, his voice a deep, gravelly promise of absolute slaughter. “He forgot who built the foundations.”
“Lorenzo, the perimeter sensors just tripped,” Mateo said, tapping furiously on a cracked smartphone screen he had pulled from his pocket. “Four armed men just breached the courtyard. Vincent is leading them himself. They’ve locked down all the smart-gates. We’re trapped inside the mansion.”
Sophia clutched Emma tightly, panic surging anew. “If they find us here, they won’t just kill Lorenzo—they’ll execute all of us to eliminate witnesses. We can’t fight our way out with a toddler.”
“We aren't going to fight our way out,” Lorenzo said, his cold, calculating eyes locking onto a rusted, iron-bolted floor panel hidden beneath a rug in the corner of the cellar. “We’re going to welcome them in.”
Before Sophia could question his sanity, Lorenzo wrenched the floor panel open, revealing a steep, descending spiral staircase plunging into pitch-black darkness. It smelled of damp earth and old wine—an ancient smuggling tunnel built during Prohibition, completely unmapped on the estate’s modern architectural blueprints.
“Mateo, take Sophia and Emma down. Move fast,” Lorenzo commanded, stepping toward the main cellar stairs with his iron pipe raised.
“And you?” Mateo asked sharply.
May you like
Lorenzo’s lips curled into a merciless, predatory grin.
“I’m going to go upstairs and greet my oldest friend.”
