Chapter 7 - THE LION'S DEN
Lorenzo moved with terrifying speed, stepping squarely in front of Evelyn, shielding her completely.
"Celeste," Lorenzo said, his voice dropping into a deadly, velvet calm. "You always were sloppy. Letting Carmine do your heavy lifting while you play dress-up."
Celeste’s beautiful face twisted into a sneer. "Carmine is a dinosaur. But he had the men, and I had the money. Together, we're erasing the Moretti legacy tonight. Hand over the ledger, Enzo. And I'll make the girl's death quick."
"The ledger goes to the Commission," Lorenzo said, holding the black book up.
Celeste laughed, a cold, brittle sound. "You think I'd let Carmine keep his real blackmail material where a minimum-wage tray-pusher could find it?"
She reached into her emerald satin clutch—the same one she had used to signal the hit—and pulled out an identical black leather book.
"You're holding a decoy, darling," Celeste smirked. "Carmine brought the real one to our dinner tonight to celebrate our hostile takeover. I took it from his coat when the shooting started."
Evelyn’s mind raced. The decoy. Celeste was gloating. But the heiress was standing too close to the dining room's antique chandelier control panel.
Evelyn subtly tapped Lorenzo’s back twice. A warning.
Lorenzo didn't break eye contact with Celeste. "You double-crossed my uncle, too? You're going to rule a city of ghosts, Celeste."
"Ghosts don't complain," Celeste said, raising her gun.
Evelyn threw her silver lighter with all her might.
It didn't hit Celeste. It smashed directly into the glass casing of the lighting control panel on the wall. The entire VIP wing plunged into absolute darkness.
"Kill them!" Celeste shrieked.
Gunfire shredded the room, tearing through the antique chairs. But Lorenzo had already tackled Evelyn behind the heavy mahogany bar.
"The real ledger," Evelyn panted over the sound of bullets splintering wood. "If we don't get it, we have nothing."
"I'm not risking you," Lorenzo said, drawing his weapon. "Stay down."
He popped up, firing twice into the darkness. Two heavy thuds signaled two of Celeste's men hitting the floor.
The returning fire was deafening. Glass rained down on them.
"They're flanking," Lorenzo muttered, ejecting a magazine and slamming a new one in. "When I move, you run for the maintenance shaft."
"No!" Evelyn grabbed his arm. "I'm not leaving you."
Suddenly, Lorenzo’s phone buzzed violently in his pocket. He pulled it out. The screen illuminated his face. It was Dante.
Lorenzo answered, his face draining of color. "Dante?"
"Boss," Dante's voice was weak, wet with blood. "They breached the penthouse. Marcus... he took the boy."
Evelyn heard it. Her heart stopped completely.
Leo.
Lorenzo looked at Evelyn, his eyes filled with a terrifying, apocalyptic rage. He grabbed her hand. "We're ending this right now."
Lorenzo didn't hide anymore. He stood up from behind the bar, walked directly into the center of the dark room, and bellowed, "CELESTE!"
The shooting stopped.
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"Bring me the boy," Lorenzo’s voice shook the walls. "Or I will burn this entire city to the ground with you in it."
The lights suddenly flickered back on. Celeste was standing by the door, smiling. Next to her was Marcus, holding a terrified, crying Leo by the collar of his pajamas.
