Chapter 3 - The Interrogation
The sub-basement of the Bolaro estate smelled of damp concrete, rust, and iron.
Maya had insisted on coming down with Lorenzo, despite his warnings that the underworld’s methods were not meant for civilized eyes. But Maya wasn't just a soft-hearted nurse; she had grown up in the rough south side of South Boston, the daughter of a decorated police detective. She knew that monsters only feared the truth.
Dr. Vance was tied to a heavy wooden chair under a single bare lightbulb. His expensive designer shirt was torn, his nose bleeding, his glasses lying shattered on the concrete floor.
Sofia was locked in a reinforced steel cell across the hallway, pounding her fists against the bulletproof glass, screaming profanities until her voice was hoarse.
Lorenzo walked into the center of the room, standing over Dr. Vance like the Grim Reaper itself. Maya stood quietly near the doorway, her arms crossed over her scrub top.
"Tell her what you told me, Vance," Lorenzo said, his voice terrifyingly calm.
Dr. Vance sobbed, wiping blood from his chin onto his shoulder. "I... I didn't want to do it! I swear to God, Mr. Bolaro! Sofia came to me six months ago! She had video footage of me... of me illegally prescribing controlled substances to high-profile clients! She threatened to send it to the Medical Board and the DEA!"
"And what did she pay you?" Lorenzo asked.
"Two... two million dollars," Vance choked out. "She paid me to alter Nico’s medical charts, to diagnose him with infantile Alexander Disease—a rare, fatal neurological condition. She said... she said the baby wouldn't suffer! She said she just needed him to slowly fade away so it looked natural!"
"Who manufactured the modified bottle caps?" Maya asked, stepping into the dim light.
Vance looked at Maya, his eyes wide with desperate terror. "It wasn't Sofia’s idea! She doesn't have the technical capability to manufacture military-grade micro-dispensers! She was working with someone else!"
Lorenzo grabbed Vance by the throat, lifting the grown man several inches off his chair. "Name him!"
"Dante!" Vance gasped, choking for air. "Dante Valenti!"
Silence dropped over the basement like a lead blanket.
Dante Valenti was Lorenzo’s Underboss—his second-in-command, his right-hand man who sat at his dinner table every Sunday, the man who controlled half of Chicago’s enforcement crews.
"Dante?" Lorenzo whispered, his dark eyes flashing with a mix of betrayal and lethal rage.
"Yes!" Vance wept as Lorenzo let go, allowing the doctor to crash back onto the chair, gasping for air. "Dante allied with Don Silvio Marcone from Detroit six months ago! Marcone promised Dante total control of the Chicago syndicate if Lorenzo was broken! Dante knew that if Lorenzo lost his son after losing his wife, Lorenzo would lose his mind and step down... or commit suicide!"
"And Sofia?" Maya asked.
"Sofia was Dante’s pawn!" Vance blurted out. "Dante promised Sofia that once Lorenzo stepped down from the syndicate, Dante would make Lorenzo marry her to unite the families! She was so obsessed with Lorenzo that she agreed to poison the baby!"
In the cell across the hall, Sofia’s screaming suddenly stopped. She pressed her pale face against the glass, realizing that her co-conspirator had been named and her entire grand delusion was crumbling into dust.
Lorenzo turned slowly toward Marco. "Dante is currently at the warehouse district downtown, managing the late-night customs shipments?"
"Yes, Boss," Marco answered, pulling a heavy tactical shotgun from the wall rack. "Should I take twenty men and eliminate him?"
"No," Lorenzo said, pulling a custom gold-engraved .45 caliber pistol from his shoulder holster and checking the chamber. "Dante is my brother in blood. He deserves to look into my eyes when I tear his heart out."
Lorenzo looked at Maya. His expression softened for a fraction of a second. "Marco will stay here with thirty loyal guards. You and Nico will be moved to my personal panic vault on the third floor. It has six-inch titanium walls and an independent air supply."
"Lorenzo," Maya said, taking a step toward him, her hand instinctively catching his arm. "Dante knows you’re suspicious. If he realizes Vance and Sofia are missing, he won't wait for you to come to the warehouse. He’ll strike here."
May you like
Lorenzo looked down at her small hand resting on his forearm. The warmth of her touch sent a strange, powerful sensation through his chest—a feeling he hadn't experienced since before his world shattered.
"Then let him come," Lorenzo growled, placing his hand over hers. "This house has been bleeding from the inside for eight months. Tonight, we cauterize the wound."
