Chapter 10 - major reveal
Gabriel’s grip on Paulie’s throat tightened until the security officer’s face turned deep purple.
"Paulie," Gabriel said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, deathly quiet tone. "Twelve years."
"Gabriel... please..." Paulie gasped, struggling against the iron forearm pressing against his windpipe. "They... they have my family in London..."
"Who has your family?" Gabriel demanded, easing his pressure just enough to let Paulie speak, but keeping the barrel of his pistol pressed hard against his skull.
"The Vanguard Crown!" Paulie choked out, tears of panic streaming down his face. "Their chief representative landed in Chicago three hours ago! He’s the one who ordered Thomas to kill Marcus three years ago!"
"What is his name?" Gabriel barked.
"Victor Vance!" Paulie confessed in a ragged whisper. "He’s the older brother of Dr. Vance from the New York Commission! He’s been running the Vanguard’s North American operations from behind the scenes for twenty years!"
Gabriel’s mind processed the revelation instantly. The medium-term mystery that had plagued Claire and Marcus for three terrifying years was fully solved:
The mastermind who had cut Marcus's brake lines, framed the Moretti family, hired Thomas Reed, and sent assassins to the estate was Victor Vance—a shadowy European operator using local syndicate puppets to systematically dismantle the Valenti bloodline.
"Where is Vance right now?" Gabriel demanded.
"He’s... he’s outside the estate gates right now," Paulie gasped, his eyes rolling back in terror. "In a black armored convoy! He gave us twenty minutes to disable the master security grid from the inside, or he’s bringing thirty heavy mercenaries through the front gates!"
Gabriel lowered his pistol slightly, then struck Paulie across the temple with the heavy butt of the gun, knocking the traitorous security chief unconscious instantly.
Gabriel pulled his comms unit up. "Marco! Code Red! Seal the main gates with heavy armored vehicles! Arm every man on the estate!"
"Don Gabriel!" Marco’s panicked voice blasted through the earpiece over the sound of screaming tires outside the main driveway. "It’s too late! The front iron gates were just blown open with explosives!"
An explosion rocked the front courtyard of the mansion, sending a massive shockwave through the marble walls. Glass shattered across the main foyer as heavy automatic gunfire erupted across the front lawn.
Gabriel didn't flinch. He stood tall in the dark corridor, his eyes burning with lethal fury.
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He turned on his heel and sprinted back toward the master suite to protect his family.
The Season 1 war for the Valenti bloodline had reached its ultimate, explosive climax.
