Chapter 3 Blood For Blood

The blacked-out convoy of SUVs tore down the backroads like a pack of wolves on the hunt, engines snarling like beasts hunting prey.

Adriano sat in the lead SUV, dressed in black tactical gear, a rifle resting against his leg. His green eyes were sharp, predatory, reflecting the streetlights as they drove past. His men were armored up too-bulletproof vests, earpieces buzzing, weapons checked and loaded.

Behind them, four more SUVs packed with King Cobra soldiers followed-every single man loyal to Adriano. No one had been left behind tonight.

This wasn't a game. This was war.

Marco adjusted his body armor, a wolfish grin pulling at his mouth. "You think they'll piss themselves before or after we show up?" he asked, cocking his shotgun with a satisfying clack.

Luca, riding in the back, chuckled darkly. "Depends. You aiming to scare 'em or splatter 'em?"

Marco smirked. "Why not both?"

Adriano didn't laugh. He didn't even smile.

Tonight, jokes were just smoke over a battlefield.

Because they weren't just hitting back at the traitorous dealers.

There were La Rosa Nera soldiers inside that warehouse too.

And La Rosa Nera had killed his mother.

Nothing but blood would satisfy him now.

Serena's voice came through the earpiece, crisp and emotionless. "Warehouse ahead. Eastside compound. Two stories. About fifteen armed guards spotted. I'm hacking into their security now."

"Good girl," Adriano muttered.

They rolled up to a screeching halt just beyond the reach of the compound's floodlights. Engines cut. Doors opened quietly. Dozens of boots hit the gravel.

This was it. Time to collect.

Adriano gathered his men behind a stack of rusted shipping containers. The moonlight glinted off their weapons-rifles, shotguns, and brutal close-combat tools. His voice was low, lethal.

Serena's voice crackled in over the radio.

"Hacked into their outside cams-they've posted guards around the perimeter, four on the roof, more at the loading dock. About twenty men total, including La Rosa soldiers."

"Same plan," Adriano said, scanning the warehouse. "Sweep and clear. No prisoners unless I say so. Marco, you're with me. Luca, flank left. Enzo, cut off their rear escape. Move fast. Let 'em know King Cobras run this fucking city."

His soldiers murmured acknowledgments, faces grim. Adrenaline thickened the air.

Without waiting another second, Adriano gave the silent signal.

They crept across the cracked pavement like shadows, silent but deadly.

Adriano was the first to reach the perimeter fence, cutting a hole clean through the chain link with wire cutters. One by one, the Cobras slipped through.

Silent takedowns began immediately.

Luca grabbed the first guard from behind, wrapping an arm around the man's throat and choking him unconscious in seconds. Adriano leveled his silenced pistol at another sentry's head-pfft-a soft, deadly shot that dropped him like a puppet with its strings cut.

Marco disabled the rooftop lookouts with precise shots from a suppressed rifle. They fell without a sound.

Another guard barely had time to react before Marco slammed the butt of his rifle into the man's face, caving his nose sideways in a spray of blood. Adriano fired two clean rounds into an incoming guard's chest sending him crashing into a pile of crates.

From the left flank, Luca's group burst out of the shadows. Luca snapped a knife across a sentry's throat in one quick, surgical movement, while his men opened fire, cutting down another three guards trying to rally at the loading bay.

Enzo and his team circled around the rear. A group of enemy soldiers tried to make a run for it-only to meet Enzo's shotgun.

BOOM!

The first man's chest exploded like a melon, spraying blood across the pavement.

BOOM!

Another fell backward, limbs twitching.

Screams and gunfire tore erupted as an alarm was set off immediately after the noise came.

Inside the warehouse, chaos erupted. Bullets ripped through walls. Men ducked behind crates, shouting orders no one could hear over the deafening gunfire.

Adriano moved like a goddamn demon, pistol spitting death with every step he took. One poor bastard tried to hide behind a forklift-Adriano shot him through the metal frame without blinking.

Marco reloaded beside him, grinning like a madman. "I fucking love payday," he shouted over the noise.

Serena, back at the convoy, patched their movement into the security feeds. "Two more coming down the stairwell!" she warned.

Adriano pivoted. His eyes locked onto the staircase just as two guards descended, shouting in Italian. He didn't hesitate. He shot the first one clean between the eyes. The second turned to run-Luca appeared behind him and buried a combat knife deep into his spine, dragging him down like a ragdoll.

The King Cobras showed no mercy. The air was filled with the stench of blood, gunpowder, and death.

In less than ten minutes, the compound was theirs. Bodies littered the ground.

Panting, Adriano surveyed the carnage, the gun still loose but ready in his hand.

"Search the place," he ordered, voice low and furious. "I want my fucking money."

His soldiers moved, rifling through crates, smashing open lockers. It didn't take long before Adriano crashed through the inner office doors-boot first-and found him.

The dealer boss.

The man tried to run but Adriano tackled him against the wall, fists flying, gun forgotten. He beat the man down with raw anger-cracking his ribs, splitting his lips, breaking him down piece by piece.

The dealer hit the floor, coughing blood, trying to crawl away. Adriano grabbed him by the hair, yanked his head back, and pressed the muzzle of his pistol against the man's forehead.

"Where's my fucking money?" Adriano growled, his voice deadly soft.

"Behind the... the wall!" the dealer sobbed, pointing with a trembling hand. "False panel! Safe-code 8-2-1-7!"

Marco and Enzo stormed in, weapons raised. "Got it," Marco said, kicking the false panel open and dragging out a heavy steel safe. A few moments later, Enzo cracked it open.

Inside-stacks and stacks of cash, wrapped tight in rubber bands.

"$500,000," Marco confirmed with a dark grin. "All there."

Adriano smirked and slapped him on the shoulder. "Good. Load it up. We're not done."

As his men packed the cash into duffle bags, without hesitation, Adriano turned and in the blink of an eye-

BANG!

The dealer boss collapsed to be ground, a bullet hole engraved in his forehead.

The message had been sent loud and clear. Anyone who crossed the King Cobras would end up face down in a pool of their own blood.

Outside, as the last of the soldiers climbed into the SUVs, Adriano lit a cigarette with blood-smeared fingers.

Behind him, the warehouse burned-orange flames roaring into the night sky, turning the world into an inferno.

He stood there for a moment, bathed in firelight, green eyes burning with a new fury.

That was when Luca and tapped Adriano from behind. "Found this in the safe while we were loading the cash."

Adriano looked down at Luca's outstretched hand to see a blank envelope. He took it and tore it open.

Inside, there was a single Black Rose, pressed flat. And a note in elegant, handwriting.

"This is only the beginning.

- V.M."