Chapter 5 - THE WINE CELLAR
The air in the wine cellar instantly turned to ice.
Evelyn Walker, the woman who had helped raise Luca, stood trembling in the dim light. Her eyes were wide with sheer terror, her silver hair disheveled. Arthur Bellini had one massive arm wrapped tightly around her neck, pulling her against his chest as a human shield, the suppressed pistol pressed firmly against her temple.
"I told you to drop the gun, boy," Arthur snarled, his voice echoing off the brick walls.
Luca didn't move. The muscles in his broad shoulders were coiled so tight they looked ready to snap. His dark eyes darted from Arthur’s cruel face to Evelyn’s terrified one, calculating the impossible odds.
"Let her go, Arthur," Luca said, his voice dangerously calm. "She has nothing to do with this."
"She has everything to do with this!" Arthur laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "She’s the one who gave you the letter! I paid off your security detail to let me slip through the back gates. I was waiting in the kitchen when the old bat came back for her purse. You really think I wouldn't use leverage when I saw it?"
Arthur pressed the gun harder against Evelyn’s head. She let out a small, terrified whimper.
"Drop it. Now."
Luca slowly lowered his weapon. He didn't drop it immediately. He let it hang at his side, his eyes never leaving Arthur.
"You killed my brother," Luca said softly.
"He was weak," Arthur spat. "Just like your father. They thought they could run this city with morals. In our world, morals get you killed. I did you a favor, Luca. I cleared the path for you to become a real boss. And this is how you repay me? By breaking my daughter's heart in front of the entire city?"
"Your daughter is a monster," Luca replied coldly.
"My daughter is a survivor!" Arthur roared. "And she’s going to inherit everything you own once I put a bullet in your head."
Arthur gestured with his chin toward the steel door behind us.
"The ledger," Arthur demanded. "I know it’s down here. Hand it over, and I might let the maid live long enough to clean up the mess."
I stood frozen behind Luca, my heart hammering violently against my ribs. The ledger was upstairs in the study. We had left it on the desk when the gunfire started.
Luca knew this, but his face remained a mask of pure, unyielding stone.
"It's in the panic room," Luca lied smoothly, gesturing slightly toward the open brick wall. "You want it? Come get it."
Arthur smirked. "Do you think I’m an idiot? You go in there, bring it out, and slide it across the floor. If you try anything, the old woman’s brains decorate your vintage Merlot."
Luca took a slow step backward toward the steel door. He glanced at me, a silent, desperate command passing between us. Follow my lead.
I nodded imperceptibly.
Luca reached the doorway of the panic room. He turned his back on Arthur for a fraction of a second, pretending to reach for the keypad inside the steel frame.
But he didn't touch the keypad.
Instead, Luca grabbed the heavy, industrial fire extinguisher hanging on the wall just inside the doorway.
In one fluid, explosive motion, Luca spun around and hurled the massive red cylinder as hard as he could toward the wooden wine racks above Arthur’s head.
The heavy metal smashed into the rack, shattering dozens of vintage wine bottles.
A tidal wave of red wine, broken glass, and heavy wooden splinters rained down on Arthur and Evelyn.
Arthur shouted in surprise, instinctively raising his free arm to shield his face from the falling glass. His grip on Evelyn loosened for a split second.
It was all the time Luca needed.
Luca raised his handgun and fired a single, deafening shot.
The bullet didn't hit Arthur. It hit the main lighting fixture above Arthur’s head, plunging the entire cellar into absolute, pitch-black darkness.
"Evelyn, drop!" Luca roared into the dark.
I heard a heavy thud as Evelyn threw herself to the floor, followed immediately by the chaotic sound of Arthur firing blindly into the darkness.
Pffft. Pffft. Pffft.
The suppressed bullets shattered more wine bottles, the smell of alcohol flooding the cold air.
Luca grabbed my arm, yanking me into the steel panic room. He didn't pull the door shut yet. He couldn't leave Evelyn out there.
"Stay here," Luca whispered in my ear.
He let go of my arm and melted into the darkness of the cellar, moving completely silently despite his size.
I crouched in the panic room, my hands over my ears, terrified. The silence that followed the gunfire was agonizing. I couldn't see anything. I could only hear the faint, ragged breathing of Arthur Bellini searching the dark.
"You think the dark can save you, boy?" Arthur taunted, his voice echoing off the brick walls. "I built this syndicate in the dark."
Suddenly, a sickening crunch echoed through the cellar.
Arthur screamed in agony, the sound of breaking bone clear and unmistakable.
I heard a heavy body hit the floor, followed by the clatter of a gun sliding across the concrete.
"I don't need the dark to save me," Luca’s cold, lethal voice echoed. "I just needed you to let her go."
The emergency backup lights flickered on, casting a dim, red glow over the cellar.
I peaked out of the panic room.
Arthur Bellini was lying on his back on the floor, clutching his shattered right knee, his face twisted in pure agony. Luca stood over him, his gun aimed directly at the mob boss's head.
Evelyn was huddled a few feet away, covered in spilled wine but unharmed.
I rushed out of the panic room and helped Evelyn to her feet, pulling her back into the safety of the steel enclosure.
"Are you okay?" I whispered frantically, checking her for injuries.
"I'm fine, Natalie," Evelyn gasped, clutching her chest. "Thank God for that boy."
We turned back to look at the scene playing out in the red emergency light.
Arthur groaned, trying to push himself up, but his knee was completely destroyed. He glared up at Luca with unadulterated hatred.
"You think this is over?" Arthur spat, blood trickling from his lip. "My men are tearing your house apart upstairs. They outnumber you three to one. Even if you kill me, you’re not walking out of this basement alive."
"I don't need to walk out of this basement," Luca said calmly.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black remote detonator.
Arthur’s eyes went wide with sudden, horrific realization.
"The ledger was never the only insurance policy I had, Arthur," Luca smiled, a dark, terrifying expression. "This house is wired with enough C4 to level a city block. If I press this button, the structural pillars blow, and the entire mansion collapses on top of your men."
"You’re bluffing," Arthur stammered, panic finally breaking his composure. "You wouldn't destroy your own home. Your mother died in this house!"
"My mother told me to burn this house to the ground if a Bellini ever tried to take it," Luca said coldly.
He raised his thumb over the red button.
"Call your men off, Arthur. Tell them to drop their weapons and walk out the front gates. Or we all die right here."
Arthur stared at the detonator, his chest heaving. He knew Luca wasn't bluffing. The terrifying resolve in the younger man’s eyes was undeniable.
Arthur slowly reached for the radio clipped to his belt.
"Stand down," Arthur barked into the radio, his voice cracking with defeat. "All units, stand down. Drop your weapons and pull back to the perimeter."
The chaotic gunfire upstairs ceased almost immediately, replaced by the sound of heavy boots retreating.
Luca didn't lower his gun. He looked at Arthur with absolute disgust.
"You murdered my brother," Luca whispered. "You covered up the murder of an innocent man to protect yourself. And you threatened the only family I have left."
Luca stepped closer, pressing the barrel of his gun against Arthur’s forehead.
I squeezed my eyes shut, expecting to hear the gunshot.
But instead, the heavy steel door of the wine cellar crashed open behind us.
"Drop the weapon, Valenti!" a harsh, authoritative voice roared.
I spun around.
Standing at the top of the cellar stairs, illuminated by tactical flashlights, were a dozen heavily armed federal agents.
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And walking down the stairs, leading the FBI tactical team, was a woman wearing a sharp grey suit, holding a federal warrant.
"You're a hard man to track down, Mr. Moretti," the woman said, flashing an FBI badge. "But Vanessa Bellini was very eager to tell us exactly where to find the evidence we need to put you both away for life."
