Chapter 11 - THE FINAL STRIKE AGAINST VANCE
While Alina and Sophia spent the morning reconnecting,
I sat in my study with Matteo and Nico,
looking over the satellite intelligence reports on Viktor Vance’s stronghold.
He’s holed up in his private estate in Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin,
Nico said,
pointing a laser pointer at a sprawling waterfront mansion on the map.
He’s got fifty private guards,
an underground bunker,
and a private dock with two high-speed escape boats.
He thinks he’s untouchable,
Matteo added.
He doesn't know you have the full resources of Vitelli Logistics behind you.
I don't want his money,
I said coldly,
adjusting my cuffs.
I want his empire.
And I want his head.
Get two strike teams ready.
We’re hitting the Lake Geneva estate tonight at midnight.
Boss,
the FBI has been sniffing around our shipping terminals all morning,
Matteo warned.
If we launch a full-scale assault in Wisconsin,
federal agents will be crawling all over us within the hour.
Let them come,
I replied without blinking.
For six years,
the law couldn't protect my family.
It's time I took matters into my own hands.
By midnight,
our convoy of three matte-black SUVs rolled silently through the iron gates of Vance’s Wisconsin estate.
The security guards never stood a chance.
We breached the mansion through three different entry points simultaneously,
neutralizing the guards with non-lethal gas and sweeping through the opulent hallways like a shadow.
I kicked open the heavy oak doors of Vance’s private study.
Viktor Vance sat behind his antique mahogany desk,
pouring himself a glass of expensive cognac as if he were expecting me.
Marco Vitelli,
Vance said,
turning around with a chilling smile on his scarred face.
I wondered how long it would take you to find your way to my doorstep.
You took my wife,
you took my daughter’s childhood,
and you thought you could hide behind your money and your mercenaries,
I said,
walking slowly toward him with my fists clenched.
Business is business,
Marco,
Vance shrugged,
taking a sip of his cognac.
Your family was just collateral damage in our war for port dominance.
Collateral damage,
I repeated,
my voice dropping to a terrifying whisper.
That was my wife and my child.
Before Vance could raise his pistol from the desk,
I lunged across the mahogany wood,
grabbing him by the throat and slamming him backward through the glass French doors.
He crashed onto the stone patio,
gasping for air as I pinned him to the ground with my knee on his chest.
You lost,
Viktor,
I whispered,
staring down into his terrified eyes.
And your empire dies with you.
Nico stepped out onto the patio,
holding a secure encrypted phone.
Boss,
the federal indictments against Vance just went public,
Nico announced.
His entire financial network has been frozen by the Treasury Department.
He has nothing left.
Vance stared up at me,
his face turning purple as my grip tightened.
Kill me,
then,
Vance wheezed.
You’re just a monster like the rest of us.
No,
Viktor,
I said,
releasing my grip and standing up slowly.
I am a father.
And monsters don't deserve the luxury of death.
May you like
Nico,
lock him in the basement and let the feds pick up the pieces.
