Chapter 10 - Blood and Rain in Lake Como
The judgment of the High Council was swift and merciless.
Don Salvatore Valenti was stripped of all titles, his assets frozen across Europe and North America, and his syndicate expelled from the Mediterranean coalition. Victoria Moretti was formally disowned by the council, her family claims permanently extinguished, leaving her penniless and facing international fraud charges.
However, Valenti was not a man to accept defeat with dignity.
As Dominic and I exited the grand estate toward our waiting motorcade on the private lakeside dock, the sound of screeching tires and automatic gunfire shattered the alpine silence.
Valenti’s rogue mercenaries, knowing their boss was finished, launched a desperate, suicidal final assault on the courtyard.
“Ambush!” Marco shouted, returning fire as bullets chipped away at the marble pillars.
Dominic immediately shoved me behind a heavy stone balustrade, drawing his weapon. “Casey, stay down! Head toward the boat dock with Marco!”
“I’m not leaving you!” I cried out over the deafening roar of gunshots.
“I will not lose you!” Dominic shouted back, his eyes blazing with fierce determination. “Marco, get her to the water, now!”
Before Marco could grab my arm, a mercenary broke through the perimeter, aiming a rifle directly at Dominic’s exposed flank. Without thinking, I grabbed a heavy antique bronze lamp from a stone pedestal and hurled it with all my strength, striking the gunman directly in the temple and sending his shot wild into the air.
Dominic spun and neutralized the threat instantly. He looked at me with a mixture of shock and sheer awe.
“Remind me never to make you angry, Miss Miller,” he breathed, grabbing my hand tightly.
Together, fighting side by side with Dominic’s loyal guards, we fought our way down the stone steps to the private speedboat idling at the dock. As the Italian authorities and Council enforcers swarmed the villa above, neutralizing the remnants of Valenti’s faction, our speedboat roared across the dark, misty waters of Lake Como toward safety.
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Valenti was captured on the villa grounds, while Victoria was arrested at the Milan airport attempting to flee to Switzerland with a suitcase of forged bearer bonds.
The war was over. The empire was secure.
