Retribution in Flames and Gunfire

Retribution is best served in flames and gunfire.

Adrian....

Vengeance has a taste.

It's metallic, like blood on your tongue. It's fire in your veins, the slow burn that turns into an inferno. It's the knowledge that when the smoke clears, only one of us will still be standing.

Tonight, that was going to be me.

Lorenzo thought he was untouchable. He thought selling me out would earn him a throne. But a man who builds his power on deception and treachery never gets to sit comfortably. Tonight, I was taking back everything he stole.

The rain drummed against the rooftops as I crouched on the edge of a warehouse rooftop, my eyes fixed on the building below. The compound was heavily guarded—of course it was. Lorenzo knew I was coming.

That didn't change anything.

Celeste knelt beside me, her gaze locked on the entrance below. "We do this fast. No drawn-out gunfights. We go in, take him down, and get out."

I smirked. "Since when are you against a little destruction?"

Her jaw tightened. "Since this fight became personal."

Fair enough.

I called Dante as soon as we got out. H e came with back up. Through Lorenzo's phone we wound this place. I signaled to Dante, who was positioned with a sniper on the other side of the compound. A single shot rang out, taking down one of the guards on the perimeter.

That was our cue.

We moved like ghosts, slipping through the shadows, taking down guards before they even realized death was at their doorstep. By the time we reached the main building, the compound was already littered with bodies.

I kicked the door open, stepping into the dimly lit hallway. The scent of gunpowder and sweat clung to the air.

And then, at the end of the corridor, Lorenzo stood waiting for me. Why can't the dead stay dead for fuck sake.

He looked worse than before. His shirt was stained with blood—her blade had already found him once. I knew Celeste had left him for dead, but Lorenzo was a cockroach. He had survived, crawling his way back to a temporary power.

Not anymore.

His smirk was weaker now, but still infuriating. "Took you long enough."

Celeste's grip on her weapon tightened beside me, but I lifted a hand. This was mine.

I stepped forward, rolling my shoulders. "You should've bled out when you had the chance."

Lorenzo chuckled, drawing his own gun with shaking fingers. "And miss the chance to put you down myself? Not a chance."

He fired first. I dodged, the bullet grazing my arm. Pain flared, but I ignored it, surging forward. I tackled him, slamming him against the wall. He grunted, bringing his knee up into my ribs. I took the hit, but it didn't slow me down.

We grappled, years of training colliding in a brutal dance of fists and blood. I landed a punch across his jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. He spat blood, his smirk now mixed with agony.

"You're already dead, Russo," he rasped. "Even if you walk out of here, the war isn't over. You can't kill them all."

I cocked my gun, aiming it at his head. "I don't need to kill them all. Just you."

Celeste stepped forward, her expression unreadable. But there was something final in her eyes.

I hesitated, waiting.

Then she stepped past me, kneeling next to Lorenzo. Her hand reached into her belt, retrieving a blade—the same one she had used before.

He looked up at her, coughing, blood trailing down his chin. "You already had your shot."

Her lips curled into something cold, something unforgiving. "Then consider this a confirmation."

And with one smooth motion, she drove the knife into his chest.

Lorenzo gasped, his eyes going wide as she twisted the blade, ensuring there was no coming back this time. He choked on his own blood, fingers grasping at nothing, before his body finally stilled.

Silence filled the air, the weight of it suffocating. Celeste wiped her blade on his shirt, exhaling sharply.

"It had to be me," she murmured.

I nodded, wiping the blood from my lip. "Then let's finish this."

Lorenzo was dead. But the war wasn't over.

Next stop: William Carter.

And this time, there would be no mercy.