Chapter 9 - THE COUNCIL OF VIPERS
The flatbed truck tore through the fog like a freight train.
The driver had his foot pinned to the floorboards.
Dante reacted on pure instinct.
He grabbed Salvatore by the collar and dove sideways behind the armored Maybach.
The truck slammed into the Maybach with a deafening screech of tearing metal.
Glass exploded outward.
The Maybach was pushed ten feet across the gravel, pinning Salvatore’s legs beneath the crushed rear bumper.
The truck driver scrambled to draw a weapon from the cab.
A sharp crack echoed across the pier.
A single rifle shot.
The driver’s head snapped back, and he slumped lifeless across the steering wheel.
Dante looked toward the custom warehouse roof.
Enzo lowered his sniper rifle, giving a brief nod.
Sirens began to wail in the distance.
Dozens of them.
State Police.
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Port Authority customs enforcement.
Gemma had done her job.
She had timed the federal transmission perfectly.
The flashing blue and red lights painted the surrounding fog in violent hues.
Helicopters swept searchlights across the harbor, pinning the Crest of Naples against the dock.
Federal agents in tactical gear poured onto the pier with megaphones.
“Drop your weapons! This is the Federal Bureau of Investigation!”
Dante rose to his feet.
He tucked his pistol into his holster and raised his hands calmly.
He did not resist.
He didn't need to.
The papers in Gemma’s possession had already cleared him of any contraband charges.
Salvatore Falcone lay screaming beneath the crushed steel of his car, federal medics rushing toward him.
Bianca was shoved face-down onto the wet asphalt, zip-ties securing her wrists.
She looked up, her designer dress ruined, her hair soaked in grime.
She saw Dante walking away without a scratch.
“Dante!” she screamed, tears cutting through her mascara.
“You’re a monster! You hear me? A monster!”
Dante did not turn back.
He walked past the line of federal agents who parted for him, recognizing the man who had handed them the largest organized crime bust in Massachusetts history.
He reached the command vehicle.
The side door slid open.
Gemma was standing there, leaning heavily against the interior grab bar.
Her face was white with terror.
When she saw him walking toward her alive, her knees buckled.
Dante lunged forward, catching her before she touched the metal floor.
He pulled her into his arms.
He buried his face in her hair.
She was trembling violently.
“You almost died,” she sobbed against his neck.
“I saw the truck on the drone feed... I thought—”
“I’m here,” Dante whispered.
He held her tightly, ignoring the burning graze on his shoulder.
“I’m here, Gemma.”
“It’s over.”
Her hands clutched the back of his shirt, clinging to him as if he were the only solid thing left in the world.
“Salvatore?” she asked softly.
“Arrested. Paralyzed, most likely,” Dante said.
“Bianca is in federal custody for conspiracy to commit murder.”
“The Falcone family is finished.”
Gemma let out a long, ragged breath that sounded like five years of carried weight releasing all at once.
Dante pulled back just enough to look into her tear-streaked eyes.
He cupped her face with his gloved hands.
“You saved my life twice in twenty-four hours,” he said.
“What was I supposed to do?” she whispered, a faint, fragile smile touching her lips.
“Let someone else manage your calendar?”
Dante’s chest tightened with an emotion he had buried since childhood.
He leaned down and kissed her.
The kiss was fierce.
Desperate.
Tasting of salt, rain, and survival.
Gemma gasped against his lips, then leaned into him completely, her arms winding around his neck.
The world outside the van—the sirens, the federal lights, the shouting—faded into white noise.
May you like
There was only her.
There had always only been her.
