CHAPTER NINE
I folded the rest of my shirts into the small, black duffel bag that had been with me to too many countries, too many battlefields. I didn't need much, just the basics.
My labcoat, a few clothes, a knife, and my trusty red lipstick. I put a burner phone under my boot and my gun? It was sewn into a bandage roll, that way it wouldn't raise suspicion during a quick inspection.
That was all the armor I needed to move forward into the lion's den.
"Are you sure you're ready for this, Francesca?" my brother asked, arms crossed in the corner of my bedroom. He was the spitting image of our father at thirty—broad shoulders, chiseled jaw, that piercing stare that could destroy someone without uttering a word. But my brother's voice wasn't like our father's when he addressed me. There was softness in it. A gentleness he didn't give to the world.
"I was born ready," I replied, not meeting his gaze. The zipper zipped shut across the bag, a sharp finality to our conversation. Or so I hoped.
"She's always ready for war, even when there's no war in sight," Vito chimed in from behind my brother. He leaned against the wall like he owned it, a faint grin on his face and his arms casually crossed. "But this one's different. This isn't just a random job, Francesca. This is Vincenzo fucking Lombardi."
I gave him a sidelong glance. "I know who he is."
"Yeah, but does he know who you are?" Vito said, pushing off from the wall to take a step closer. He picked up my leather gloves from the edge of the bed and handed them to me. "You're not going there to play Doctor, even if that's what your ID says. You're going there to get close. And close is dangerous."
"Close is how I kill, Vito. You know that."
My brother's jaw tightened. He hated when I talked like that. Like death was an item on my checklist, like revenge didn't scare me . But that was the truth,it didn't. Aside the people I care about, It was the only constant in my life.
"Just be careful," Vito said, more softly now. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and looked away, as if the words had cost him something to say. "You're good, I know that. But he's not stupid. And neither is anyone around him. One wrong move and we'll be identifying your body instead of celebrating your win."
My phone buzzed on the nightstand.
We all looked at it at the same time.
The name on the screen pulsed in bold white letters: UNCLE ALE
I silently turned the phone to face them.
My brother cursed under his breath. "Don't answer that."
Vito's face darkened. "I'm sure he still wants to try his luck to talk you out of it. You know he's still hoping you'll change your mind."
I didn't move. The phone kept vibrating in my hand.
"He's not wrong to worry," my brother said. "He's seen what happens when people come after the big dogs. You think you're ready, but this isn't just revenge anymore. It's a game of shadows, 3D Chess with blood."
The call and I set down the phone. "He can't talk me out of it, no one will. Plus I made him an offer from the beginning, I won't do anything. I'll just be his eyes and ears"
There was a silence. A pressure that pressed against the walls of the room like smoke.
"I'll talk to him later," I said. It was a lie. We all knew it, just like all knew ill be more than just 'eyes and ears'.
Vito took my bag and slung it over his shoulder. My brother opened the door. And together, they led me downstairs and outside to the car.
The sun was too bright. The day too quiet. I despised when the world was peaceful before a disaster.
"Do you remember the signals?" my brother asked as I opened the driver-side door.
"Of course I remember."
"And the plan if shit goes sideways?"
"Get out alive, leave a message, and make sure someone burns the place to the ground." I chanted. This had grown to become our mantra over the years. There's no way I would forget.
Vito grinned. "That's my girl."
They watched me as I slid into the car, firm hands on the wheel. I looked up at them—my brother, my ally and friend. The two people who had been with me through every broken bone, every hit job, every nightmare. If I wasn't careful, this might be the last time I ever laid eyes on them. And they knew it too.
"Don't do anything stupid," my brother reminded me.
"Define stupid," I said as I jammed the door.
They laughed, I smiled. Then I gave them a nod and drove away.
.......
The drive to Vincenzo's villa was long and winding, as was the road that led me here. As I drove down the tree lined streets, the silence gave me too much room to think.
I went over my cover story again. The medical certifications were flawless, the background check clean. My alias had never been used before. I'd made sure of that. Vincenzo's people wouldn't find anything, but that didn't mean they wouldn't sense something. You can't be too sure.
I thought about him. The way he'd looked at me when I'd first met him at the hospital. He looked amused, with that stupid sly smile on his cheek.
I had to get close enough to learn his routines. His weaknesses. His buttons. Close enough to kill him if the chance presented itself. But staying safe and alive long enough to do that? That was the trick.
I pulled up to the front gates one minute before noon. The guards nodded me past with a straight face. They didn't need to check my ID as they had gotten used to the fact I now worked there.
The villa was different during the day. Less fortress, more kingdom. Still dangerous. Still secret filled.
I parked in the drive and stepped out, bag over my shoulder, gloves in my belt.
Inside, the air was heavy with something I couldn't quite put my finger on. The silence was too thick, as though it was hiding something. The staff seemed on edge, and the quiet confidence that usually lingered in the air had been replaced with vigilance. Watchfulness.
Something had happened.
I took the stairs with the grace of someone who did not want to seem in a hurry. But my mind was racing. Every instinct screamed that something was wrong.
By the time I reached his office, I did not even knock. I pushed open the door and went in.
He was at his desk, looking at a screen, but the moment the door shut behind me, his eyes met mine.
Vincenzo's eyes were colder than usual. More piercing. And when they met mine, I noticed it. Something was off.
His jaw tightened.
"Were you not taught to knock where you came from?" he asked, voice low and edged with something dangerous.
I smiled slowly, one hand still on the doorknob. Checkmate was eminent .