CHAPTER 35: RUNAWAY RATS

Salvatore stood before them, immaculate in a white shirt and an elegant black vest, as composed and refined as if it were broad daylight instead of the dead of night.

Behind him, his grandson Dante trailed, alert and watchful.

"I thought the scratching I heard on the wall was just roaches," Salvatore said with a slow smile.

"Turns out it was both of you." He grinned, amusement curling at the edges of his mouth.

"Can’t believe Mikhail’s grown this foolish, sending his dogs into my house. Does he still look down on me that much?"

Victor frowned and hauled Vincent upright by the collar until the man staggered to his feet.

"Мудак! Look what you’ve done!" he spat, then shoved him hard. "Kill him! You said you would!"

Vincent snapped. With trembling hands, he drew his pistol and leveled it at Salvatore, who did not even flinch, only that same carved smirk, a look as disdainful as if a child had picked up a toy gun.

"Tell me," Vincent shouted, voice raw, "why do all of you hate me so much? I did nothing! I did nothing before you stomped on my pride! Keep reminding me I’m a parasite in this family!"

He finally let loose the humiliation he’d swallowed for years. After all, he thought, men didn’t nag, men proved their worth with actions.

He had tried. He had bled. Yet they still refused to see him as an equal. Not even Lucien.

Salvatore regarded him for a beat, choosing his words carefully and sharply. "Tell me, did your plan ever work? You failed to take Lucien’s place. You failed to see the bigger picture. You failed to eliminate the capos."

"What have you been doing all this time?" he continued, each syllable a slice.

"Lighting the Don’s cigarette, sheltering him with an umbrella when it rains?"

With every insult, Salvatore closed the distance, stepping forward until Vincent’s back hit Victor’s broad chest. Dante followed, gun trained on both of the enemies.

"You can’t even see that Lucien knows what you were doing behind his back," Salvatore said.

"You think the Silver Serpent could ever be caught in your cheap little coup?"

Vincent was stunned, so Lucien after all knew about this and only played along? That’s why it was easy for him to get caught.

He had had enough. He squeezed the trigger. The bullet punched into Salvatore’s chest; the old man staggered and dropped to one knee.

For a sliver of a second Vincent’s face lit with triumph. "I did it! I shot him!" he snarled. "This is what you get for underestimating me! For every insult your famiglia throws at me"

"Grandpa!"

Dante screamed and fired at Vincent, but the younger man was fast; the shot missed.

Salvatore let out a sound that began as a groan and turned into a laugh. He lifted his vest a fraction, revealing the edge of an armored plate beneath his shirt.

"Next time, aim for the head," he said coolly.

Then, with a calm that made Vincent’s grin die in his throat, Salvatore pulled a pistol from his vest and fired.

Pain exploded through him like fire, ripping a scream from his throat as he stumbled backward. Blood poured hot and sticky down his arm, his fingers twitching.

"My bad," the old man said with chilling politeness, "seems my aim’s gone soft too."

Salvatore fired again. Victor lunged forward, grabbing Vincent by the waist and shoving him toward the window.

The glass shattered as they crashed through, the cold air slicing their skin as they fell into the garden below.

"Shit! I’ll catch them!" Dante shouted, leaping down after them as the two men hit the ground running.

Salvator rose, brushing off his vest as if nothing had happened, then pulled out his walkie-talkie.

"Two idiots are running south, through the garden," he said coolly. "Find them."

...

Victor heard Vincent’s ragged breath as they crouched behind a squat tree. They

They were lucky the night was still deep; the south side of Lucero’s manor was a dense wood that swallowed sound and shadow, making it easier for them to melt into the darkness.

They wouldn’t be able to hide forever, especially not with dogs on the hunt and with this idiot bleeding out.

The blood soaked through Vincent’s shirt and left a dark trail on the undergrowth.

"This is your fault," Victor hissed, voice low and sharp. "We should have left without making a damn ruckus."

Vincent clutched at the gash on his shoulder, panic and pain tangling in his voice.

"Fuck! Stop nagging! If you want to leave me, leave! I’d rather die than listen to you gripe!"

Victor wrenched at his collar and shoved him hard against the tree; the bark rasped under Vincent’s back.

"Oh, you will die, asshole," he snarled.

They glared at each other, faces lit by moonlight, eyes full of hate and frayed patience.

For a breath they were enemies and equals at once: both desperate, both bent on surviving.

Then dogs barked, somewhere deeper in the dark. Dante’s voice answered, cutting across the trees.

"Search for them! They must be close, don’t let them slip!"

"Damn it! Run and don’t get in my way!" Victor barked.

The sound of barking grew louder as the branches rustled. Victor turned, catching the glint of flashlights between the trees.

"They’re close," he muttered, grabbing Vincent’s arm, forcing him to move even when his legs trembled from the pain.

Blood trailed behind them, dark and sticky against the dead leaves.

"They are here! Over here!" Dante’s screams make their heart beat even faster.

Vincent bit his lip, suppressing a groan, his breath uneven as they ran through the wet soil.

His body screamed at him to stop, but the thought of being dragged back made his pulse race faster.

Victor pulled him by the wrist when he stumbled, his tone rough, "Don’t you dare faint now."

From behind, Dante’s voice echoed, calm yet sharp like a blade, "Don’t bother hiding. You’re only wasting time."

The dogs barked louder as the flashlights got closer. Vincent’s lungs burned as he followed Victor through the maze of trees until suddenly, the path opened.

Before them was a wide, dry fountain, the stone cracked and covered in moss. A dead end.

Vincent’s chest tightened as he turned, hearing footsteps approaching from behind. The lights flickered through the trees, and Dante’s silhouette appeared.

Victor’s jaw clenched. "We jump."

Vincent’s eyes widened, "Are you insane?"

But Victor didn’t answer, he just leapt and dragged Vincent with him.