Chapter 38 - The Burning Citadel
The black SUV tore through the dark Sicilian countryside at terrifying speed, its engine roaring like a wounded beast as Leo pushed the vehicle past its absolute limits. In the passenger seat, Sophia’s fingers danced across her tablet, trying to re-establish a remote camera feed from the estate’s security network.
"The local servers are jammed," Sophia said, her voice tight with tension. "Marco’s signal is breaking up. The estate’s automated defense grid was knocked out by an electromagnetic pulse weapon."
"Hold on!" Leo shouted, spinning the steering wheel hard to navigate a hairpin turn along the coastal cliffside road.
Ten minutes later, the Moretti estate came into view—and the sight that met them made their blood run cold.
Thick, billowing clouds of black smoke rose into the rainy night sky from the eastern wing of the mansion. The massive iron perimeter gates were blown wide open, twisted like shattered wire. Blinking amber emergency lights flashed across the manicured lawns where several armored tactical vehicles sat idling, their heavy doors open.
Leo didn't slow down. He drove the SUV straight through the shattered front gates, slamming the vehicle to a halt right in front of the grand courtyard entrance.
Before the tires had even stopped spinning, Leo kicked his door open and leapt out, his carbine raised. Sophia followed a fraction of a second later, her sidearm drawn and locked.
Stepping into the grand foyer, the devastation was immediate. Priceless marble pillars were chipped and scarred by automatic gunfire. Shards of crystal from the shattered chandelier littered the polished floor like frozen tears.
"Leo! Sophia!"
Marco emerged from the shadow of the grand staircase, his left arm wrapped in a blood-soaked handkerchief, holding a smoking shotgun.
"Marco! Where are the children?" Leo demanded, grabbing the old consigliere by the tactical vest.
"They hit the lower archive wing using a thermic lance," Marco rasped, coughing slightly from the smoke. "They weren't looking for money, boss. They were looking for the master cryptographic keys to the estate’s structural grid. Grandfather Rocco held them off in the hallway long enough for Elena and the boy to reach the secure panic room, but..."
Marco stopped, his eyes falling heavily to the floor.
"Where is Rocco?" Sophia asked, her breath catching in her throat.
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Before Marco could answer, a heavy, familiar voice echoed from the top of the grand staircase.
“Looking for the patriarch, little architect?”
