Chapter 13 - The Return of the King
The main estate in New Jersey was blazing with light and the sounds of celebration. Vincenzo was throwing a lavish gala in the grand ballroom to celebrate his new reign. Expensive champagne flowed, and the city’s most corrupt elite toasted to the new boss.
They didn't realize a ghost was already inside the walls.
I didn't breach the front gate. I used the same hidden panic tunnels I had used to escape. Moving through the dark, narrow passageways, I bypassed the heavily armed perimeter guards entirely.
I emerged in the shadows of the second-floor balcony, looking down at the ballroom. Vincenzo was standing on a raised dais, wearing a custom white suit, raising a glass to Dr. Thorne and the head of the Rossi family.
"To a new era of prosperity!" Vincenzo announced into a microphone, his voice echoing through the massive room. "And to honoring the memory of my dear, departed brother, Matteo."
"I prefer to be honored in person, Vincenzo."
My voice boomed over the estate's integrated security PA system, which I had hacked into from the security panel on the second floor.
The music abruptly cut off. The laughter died instantly. Two hundred guests froze in absolute terror, looking around the room for the source of the voice. Vincenzo’s face turned an ugly, sickly shade of grey. He dropped his champagne glass, shattering it on the marble floor.
I stepped out from the shadows onto the grand balcony, illuminated by the massive crystal chandelier. I was wearing my signature black suit, armed with twin suppressed tactical pistols.
"Matteo..." Vincenzo breathed, backing away from the microphone. "Kill him! Kill him now!" he screamed at his guards.
But before his men could even raise their weapons, the heavy oak doors of the ballroom crashed open. Carlo and fifty of my most loyal, heavily armed enforcers poured into the room, aiming their rifles at Vincenzo’s guards.
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"Drop the guns," Carlo ordered loudly. "Or you all die with the traitor."
The guards, realizing they were vastly outgunned and staring at the true boss they thought was dead, immediately dropped their weapons to the floor. The coup was over before a single shot was fired.
