Chapter 7 - Kidnapped in Broad Daylight

A low, thunderous murmur spread through the ranks of both families like wildfire. The older capos—men who had sworn their first blood oaths to Don Alessandro Castiglione twenty years ago—lowered their weapons, staring at Sofia in awe and superstitious dread.

“It’s a lie!” Bianca screamed, sensing the sudden shift in power. “She’s a nobody! I watched her scrub the master bathroom yesterday! Shoot them! Daddy, tell your men to shoot them!”

“Quiet, Bianca!” Falcone yelled, panic vibrating through his chest.

Sofia took three deliberate steps forward, stopping right in the center of the warehouse. Her voice, clear and commanding, rang out through the vast space.

“My name is Sofia Castiglione,” she announced, her eyes locking onto the older soldiers standing behind Vittorio. “Fifteen years ago, my father was murdered in his bed by the two cowards standing before you. They stole his territory, they stole his business, and they forced my mother to die in squalor. But the blood of Castiglione does not die. Any man who served my father... stand down now, or burn with the traitors!”

Four of Vittorio’s senior capos exchanged glances. Slowly, without a word, they holstered their weapons and took two steps back, breaking formation.

“Traitorous bastards!” Vittorio bellowed, raising his cane to strike one of his men. “I pay your salaries!”

“They don't work for you anymore, Father,” Luca said, his hand resting on the hilt of his weapon. “It’s over. Sign the transfer of the shipping docks over to Sofia, abdicate your seat on the Commission, and I will let you retire to Florida in peace.”

Bianca’s eyes rolled back with sheer, psychotic rage. She saw her entire future—her status, her marriage, her wealth—evaporating in front of a woman she had treated like dirt.

“If I can’t have it, nobody will!” Bianca shrieked.

Pulling a small, nickel-plated revolver from her mink coat, Bianca didn't aim at Luca. She aimed straight at Sofia’s chest and pulled the trigger!

BANG!

“SOFIA!” Luca roared, launching his body forward.

The bullet tore through Luca’s right shoulder as he threw himself in front of Sofia, the impact spinning him around. Crimson blood splattered across Sofia’s emerald gown.

“Luca!” Sofia cried out, catching him as he fell to one knee.

Before Luca could recover, Falcone’s loyalists opened fire, creating a wall of smoke and chaos. Marco engaged from the SUV, laying down covering fire with a fully automatic rifle.

In the blinding flash of muzzle fire, three of Falcone’s elite enforcers rushed Sofia from the blind spot behind the shipping containers. A heavy cloth soaked in chloroform clamped down over Sofia’s nose and mouth.

She struggled, digging her nails into her attacker's face, but the chemical hit her nervous system instantly. Darkness pulled her under.

“Luca...” was the last whisper that left her lips as she was hauled into the back of a speeding black van.

Luca, clutching his bleeding shoulder, looked up through the haze of smoke just in time to see the van’s taillights vanish into the storm.

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A sound escaped Luca’s throat—not the voice of a man, but the primal, earth-shaking roar of an injured beast whose mate had been stolen.

***