Chapter 10 - Back Against the Wall
The red emergency lights pulsed rhythmically against the damp concrete walls, casting long, frantic shadows across the blood-slick floor.
Victor Moretti stood at the center of his armed phalanx, his cold eyes gleaming with malicious satisfaction.
“Drop your weapons, Lorenzo,” Victor commanded, gesturing with his gold-ringed hand toward the ring of assault rifles pointed squarely at their heads. “Unless you want your little sister and your runaway bride to turn into Swiss cheese right here in the dark.”
Lorenzo didn't lower his gun.
His dark eyes remained locked onto Victor’s chest, calculating angles, windage, and reaction times with lethal precision.
“You think holding a gun makes you powerful, Victor?” Lorenzo said, his voice terrifyingly calm.
“It certainly beats a knife in a drainage pipe,” Victor sneered.
“Dad!” Elena cried out softly, clutching the back of Lorenzo’s jacket. “What do we do?”
“Stay behind me,” Lorenzo repeated, his tone unwavering.
Amelia stepped up beside Lorenzo, her hand sliding down his arm until her fingers brushed against his tactical belt.
She didn't look at Victor.
She looked straight at Lorenzo.
“There’s a gas line running behind the north utility panel,” she whispered so quietly that only Lorenzo could hear. “If we blow the regulator, the entire sub-basement ventilation system will vent the gas straight into this hallway.”
Lorenzo’s eyes flickered sideways toward her for a fraction of a second.
A grim, dangerous smile touched the corner of his mouth.
“You really are out of your mind, Amelia,” he murmured softly.
“I learned it from the best,” she replied, her green eyes flashing with absolute defiance.
Victor noticed their whispered exchange and frowned.
“What are you muttering about? Enough stalling! Drop the weapons or my men open fire right now!” Victor bellowed, raising his hand to signal the firing squad.
“Now, Enzo!” Amelia screamed.
Lorenzo didn’t hesitate.
Instead of dropping his gun, he dropped flat onto the concrete floor, pulling Amelia and Elena down with him.
At the exact same second, Lorenzo fired a single, calculated shot past Victor’s ear straight into the exposed copper gas regulator on the back wall.
SPARK.
BOOM.
The spark ignited the pressurized natural gas instantly.
A roaring wall of blue and orange fire erupted from the utility panel, sweeping across the ceiling like a tidal wave of thermal energy.
The Moretti mercenaries screamed in panic as the concussive blast wave knocked their assault rifles out of their hands, sending them crashing backward into the concrete pillars.
Victor Moretti stumbled backward, his tailored suit smoking, his face blackened by soot.
“Shoot them! Kill them all!” Victor shrieked, coughing violently as thick black smoke filled the hallway.
Through the blinding wall of smoke and fire, Lorenzo rose to his feet like a phantom of vengeance.
He lunged through the flames, ignoring the scorching heat, and tackled Victor Moretti to the ground.
The old syndicate boss hit the floor hard, his breath exploding from his lungs in a ragged gasp.
Lorenzo straddled his chest, his massive hands closing around Victor’s throat with bone-crushing pressure.
“This is for my family,” Lorenzo growled, his face inches from Victor’s terrified eyes. “And this is for what you did to Amelia.”
Victor clawed frantically at Lorenzo’s wrists, his face turning a deep, dangerous shade of purple, his eyes bulging as the air left his lungs entirely.
“Boss!” Rocco’s voice echoed in Lorenzo’s mind, but reality pulled him back as the digital countdown timer on the wall flashed red:
00:01:00.
One minute until the main facility charges detonated.
“Enzo! We have to go! Now!” Amelia yelled over the roaring fire, pulling Elena toward the open drainage culvert exit.
Lorenzo looked down at Victor, who was now unconscious and gasping for breath on the floor.
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He delivered one final, devastating right hook that knocked the old boss out cold, then rose to his feet.
“Let’s finish this,” Lorenzo muttered, grabbing Amelia’s hand as they sprinted toward the escape tunnel.
