CHAPTER 3 – THE NIGHT THE MAFIA KING BECAME A FATHER
CHAPTER 3 – THE NIGHT THE MAFIA KING BECAME A FATHER
The first gunshot shattered the mansion's stained-glass ceiling.
Then came another.
And another.
Within seconds, the peaceful estate had become a battlefield.
Dominic shoved the classified folder into his jacket.
"Stay with the children."
Elena didn't move.
"They'll come for them first."
"Not while I'm breathing."
He sprinted up the hidden staircase two steps at a time.
The moment the secret door opened, bullets ripped through the hallway.
Marble exploded around him.
Dominic fired twice.
Two assassins collapsed before they even realized he had appeared behind them.
The mansion erupted into chaos.
His own security team rushed toward the front entrance.
Half of them were firing at the invaders.
The other half turned their weapons on Dominic's men.
Traitors.
The betrayal was complete.
A bodyguard Dominic had trusted for six years aimed his rifle directly at him.
"I'm sorry, Boss."
Dominic pulled the trigger first.
The man dropped without another word.
More footsteps.
More gunfire.
More screams.
But none of it mattered.
Only one sound reached Dominic's ears.
"Sophia!"
Lucas.
The terrified cry echoed from the second floor.
Dominic ran harder than he ever had.
A grenade rolled across the hallway.
He kicked it through an open doorway.
The explosion tore apart the empty guest room, sending flames bursting through shattered windows.
Smoke swallowed the corridor.
Dominic burst into the children's bedroom.
Empty.
The blankets lay on the floor.
The window was open.
His heart stopped.
"No..."
Then he heard tiny sobs from inside the closet.
He ripped the doors open.
Lucas stood in front of Sophia with a kitchen knife clutched in trembling hands.
His seven-year-old body shook violently.
"Dad..."
His voice cracked.
"I told her not to cry."
Dominic dropped to his knees.
The knife slipped from Lucas's fingers.
For the first time in months, the boy allowed himself to be held.
"I'm here."
Dominic wrapped both children in his arms.
"I'm late."
Lucas buried his face in his father's shoulder.
"You came."
Three simple words.
Three words that broke Dominic far more than the bullets outside.
His son hadn't expected rescue.
He had only hoped for it.
Before Dominic could answer, Elena rushed into the room.
"They've surrounded the east wing."
She handed Dominic a small earpiece.
"I activated the emergency network."
"What network?"
"The people who still remember your father."
Dominic frowned.
"My father died twenty years ago."
Elena looked him directly in the eyes.
"No."
"The man buried twenty years ago wasn't your father."
Before Dominic could process her words, the mansion lights suddenly went dark.
Complete silence.
Then dozens of red laser sights appeared through the windows.
Every one of them pointed toward the children's room.
Victoria's voice echoed through a loudspeaker.
"Dominic."
"You have one minute."
"Give me the children."
"And I'll let you die quickly."
Dominic kissed Sophia's forehead.
Then Lucas's.
He stood.
Pulled fresh magazines into both pistols.
And smiled for the first time that night.
Not because he had accepted death.
Because he had finally remembered who he used to be.
Not a businessman.
Not a fiancé.
Not a respected billionaire.
He was the man Chicago once called...
The Devil of Little Italy.
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"If they want my children," he said quietly.
"They'll have to climb over my corpse."
