Chapter 21
The subterranean vault beneath the Russo estate reeked of damp masonry, oxidized steel, and the metallic tang of impending slaughter. Luca hung limp against the reinforced steel chair bolted into the concrete slab. His tailored clothes were shredded, his nose shattered, and crimson streaks dripped steadily from his swollen jaw onto his chest. Dante stood three paces away under a bare halogen bulb, slowly unbuckling his platinum watch and placing it onto a stainless-steel tray. Every movement radiated a cold, predatory serenity that terrified Luca far more than unbridled rage.
"You have exactly three minutes, Luca," Dante said, his deep voice scraping like granite grinding against granite. "When the second hand makes three rotations, I stop listening. I let Matteo bring the surgical pliers and peel every nail from your right hand—the hand you used to sign your immunity pact with the feds."
Luca shuddered violently, the heavy chair clattering against the floor. "Dante... please! Listen to me! They backed me into a corner! The Barones traced my shell accounts in the Caymans. They threatened to butcher my family if I didn't feed the Bureau internal security codes!"
"Where is Elena?" Dante interrupted, closing the distance between them. His pale gray eyes were barren of mercy. "I didn't ask for your excuses. I asked for my wife."
"Montauk!" Luca screamed in blind panic as Dante drew a sleek ceramic blade from his belt. "An old boathouse near the dunes, disguised as a coastal rescue depot! She’s holed up there, waiting for an unregistered cargo vessel bound for Lisbon at sunrise! She never wanted to die, Dante! She just wanted out! She wanted to escape you and this entire bloody empire!"
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Dante froze. His knuckles turned white around the hilt of the blade. Elena had staged her death to flee from him. The realization tore through his chest with far more cruelty than any hollow-point bullet, but his expression remained an impenetrable mask of stone. He slid the blade back into its sheath and turned his back on the traitor.
"Lock him down," Dante ordered Matteo at the door. "Sever all external communications. If I am not back before the sun breaks the horizon, bury him in the marsh."
