ENZO

Enzo is first to arrive at the location. He's escorted through the door by his entourage and is welcomed inside by Idris's men. They lead him into an elevator for the second floor where the meeting will take place.

It's a conference room. Enzo takes a seat while the rest of his men take their place as guards around the perimeter. He checks his watch for the time and finds that he's a little over thirty minutes early. Then he frowns. What kind of host makes their guest wait?

The meeting that evening is to shed light on the Toulour family. He has a theory that the reason the Toulours haven't been able to track down Domenico Ontario is because the informant is no longer who he once used to be. He has completely blended into society. Enzo thinks hiring The Caméléonne may be their key to cracking the code. If there's anyone with the skills to track down a runaway, it's the assassin herself.

But Enzo doesn't get the chance to foster this idea with Idris. The time now reads 10:53 P.M, and there's still no signs of him. He grits his teeth as the irritation begins settling in. Why must he wait for a child?

"Where is he?" Enzo asks Croff who busies himself with his cellphone. "How immature. Is this how your boss handles business?"

Croff gives him a glare that makes him go stiff. "Watch your mouth."

The glare is so suffocating, Enzo finds himself following orders. Until he snaps out of the trance. But he isn't given a chance to reply because Croff storms out the room, probably to further his search for Idris.

Enzo's consultant walks in a couple seconds later and goes to sit besides him, almost as vexed as he is.

"This is ridiculous." The consultant confesses. They have been on standby for almost half an hour, still with no signs of Idris Verdonni.

"This is why children should never be put in charge. He's a disgrace to his late father." Enzo says.

"Idris doesn't measure up to Bruno. His recent underboss was found dead after mere weeks of assuming his position. Bruno would never have let that happen."

Enzo laughs at this. He may not need to plan the Verdonni family's downfall at this rate. He knows the previous Underboss was betrayed by one of their own, ratted out to the authorities and arrested in broad daylight.

The Verdonni family don't need a hand destroying their reputation. They seem to be doing that all on their own.

"No one in that family has enough intelligence."

The consultant nods. "The Verdonni family is slowly slipping."

Yet another statement Enzo agrees with. They're on a path headed towards destruction. He will take great pleasure witnessing their demise, but all that will come after the Toulour family is off his shoulders.

Then comes the moment that kickstarts Enzo's grim fate. "Sir, we have a problem!" A guard of Enzo's says as he rushes through the door. He's breathless and seems to be quite shaken up. "One of the guards noticed ticking from the ceiling. It's been nonstop for minutes now."

Enzo shoots to his feet. "What do you mean?"

"There's a bomb in the building!"

That's all it takes for chaos to ensue. The guards present all flee their post, some scrambling to move Enzo and his consultant away from the room. But the mafia head is currently in a trance. This is no meeting between allied families, but his own death sentence. And he thinks Idris Verdonni is behind it.

Enzo clenches his fists in anger. He has been duped. "That fucking bastard!"

The conference room is soon emptied with Enzo on his way out the building. But he doesn't make it far before the bomb goes off. Not only does the force knock him down the hallway, but the heat scorches his skin and burns it down to the bone. The floor cracks open from the structure's instability, creating a hole which Enzo plummets through and hits the first floor. Rubble from above bury part of his body, along with a metal rod that strikes him right through his abdomen.

Enzo's vision goes blank, then gradually begins to return. There's intense ringing in his ears. It feels as though his brain has been reduced to mush. He can't think at all, but what he does know is his body is in immense pain. The burn from the fire has traveled up his body and taken up half his face. The weight from the rubble makes it hard for him to breathe, but what makes it worse is the gaping hole left behind by the rod.

Enzo coughs up more blood than he can keep down. His life is slowly slipping. But he can't die yet. There's so much more for him to do. He can't be a victim of a double cross. This is no way for a man like him to go out. And his family. His fortune. Everything he's worked so hard for. He can't abandon it now.

From above, the rain pours—light at first, until it turns into heavy pelts. Enzo lays there in agony, soaking in his own blood, hoping that help will soon arrive.

Then a shadow befalls him, shielding his face from the raindrops. Enzo thinks this must be it. Someone must have come to save him. He tilts his head to see who the new visitor is, only to find that it's none other than his greatest mistake. His daughter.

~《¤》~

ROSARI

Rosari never went home. She followed her father to that meeting, although discreetly, because a chance like this only presents itself once in a lifetime. So she waited until the exact hour. Patiently. And when the bomb finally went off, she'd stood there just gawking. Calmly. Until she deemed it safe to venture inside the building. Or at least, what was left of it.

Now Rosari stands in front of Enzo, steeped in more melancholy than the rain itself. She gazes at her father and simply takes it all in: the blood stuck to his body, the nasty burn on his face, the rod lodged deep within his abdomen. This grotesque image will forever stick with her. And each time it surfaces, she will reminisce about it.

Rosari takes a seat on the floor next to Enzo. "You don't look too good." She waits for some response, though she knows he can't muster one up.

"Do you believe in karma?" Rosari allows the question hang in the air, then laughs after seconds of silence fly by. "It doesn't really matter if you do now, does it?"

Enzo coughs up more blood, almost as a form of an answer. "I've dreamt of this moment for as long as I can remember. Ever since mom died. I wanted you to feel what she felt when she cried out to you on her deathbed. Despite all the things you put her through, she still looked to you for help. You, her husband. You, the man who threatened her into marriage." Rosari peers up at the dark sky. "You, who let her die."

Now it's all clear why Enzo had any interest in her mother. He never once cared for her past her looks and what she could offer him. A son. Someone who would eventually inherit his greatness. And once his one shot at creating that heir fell short, he took out his anger on her mother. Made her take the blame.

Rosari sighs and brings her knees up to her chin. "I hope the pain is suffocating. I hope you die knowing the Maranzo family will end up in ruins. The family you worked so hard for will crumble with no one to carry on your legacy. And you'll be reduced to worm food, forgotten by the rest of the world. Completely lost in history."

Enzo's chest begins heaving, like he's hyperventilating, and his breathing grows heavy. It brings a smile too sweet to Rosari. So sweet that she has to continue. "I get to go to bed happy tonight," she says with glee. "Something I haven't been able to do for years. And it's all thanks to your death."

Then comes the thing that completes Rosari's satisfaction. Enzo begins crying. The tears aren't plenty, but they're there. They're real. And they fill Rosari with immense joy.

"Thank you for giving me a night I'll never forget."

Sirens can now be heard in the distance, signaling Rosari's cue to leave. She scans Enzo's body a second longer before rising to her feet. Then she slips her gloves off and neatly places them besides his body.

"Goodbye, Enzo. And let your trip to the world below be full of every ounce of regret."

As soon as she leaves, the sound of Enzo's labored breaths cease. He just drew his last breath.

The nightmare that once plagued Rosari has ceased to exist. There will be no more Enzo from now on. No more auctions. No more haughty men for her to entertain. Enzo's death has made that reality certain. And now Rosari is free to decide her own fate.

~《¤》~

IDRIS

Panic like never before. The Verdonni family currently face an issue bigger than their existence.

Idris is seated at a table with a glass of whiskey he hasn't touched. His capos are the ones keeping the discussion alive. Meanwhile, he just sits there motionless. He was so close to death, so close to his own tragedy. This is not an uncommon occurrence in his field. His life has been targeted numerous times, but what makes things different this time around is the fact that he never saw any of it coming.

The capos are trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. It's no longer a secret that both Enzo and Idris were targeted. Only one thing is for certain: the Verdonnis never planned it. Which means there's a third party in the mix.

"No one else was supposed to know about that meeting," Six argues. "Someone from the inside ratted us out."

"It could have been from Enzo's side." Five suggests.

Then the door opens and Seven steps through. "It was Rand."

The men all look at him as if they've heard the worst. Rand, their Consigliere. Their voice of reason. The brain behind their brawn. How could he have forsaken the family? Idris doesn't yet believe it, until Seven provides him with the concrete evidence.

"He went off grid fifteen days ago. Take a look at these," Seven drops a file on the table for them all to see. "He was spotted with the Toulours — with Ferdinand. He may also have been the one behind Ramsey's arrest."

Idris doesn't touch the photos, as if doing so would make the situation more real and brutal than it already is. But the person in the photos is indeed Rand Vero, his Consigliere. He's with the enemy, the Toulours — in a conversation that more or less resulted in his assassination attempt.

Idris finishes connecting the dots, which really isn't much at all. Rand betrayed him.

His Consigliere betrayed him. For what reason, Idris doesn't know. But he wants the truth. He wants to know what he possibly could have done to warrant this. Was this all somehow his fault? Ramsey's arrest, Ainse turning his back on him, Rand selling him out to his own enemies. Is he to blame for the betrayal of his friends?

Idris stands from his seat and hurls his glass at the wall. Who else is next in line to stab him in the back? Can he even trust the men in the room? What's stopping them from following Rand's footsteps? What if this is all just a greater part of some scheme they all planned together?

Idris looks everyone present in the eye; from Seven who stands baffled, to Five with a hand over his face, and finally to Six who has the file in his hands. He sees no trustworthy comrades among them, no one he can rely on.

With one last frustrating grunt, Idris stomps towards the exit and slams the door behind him.

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