For three days after the coronation, the DeLuca empire basked in tense silence. Matteo was locked in a heavily guarded warehouse under twenty-four-hour surveillance. Every mafia family reaffirmed their loyalty to Leonardo, pledging never to follow Matteo again.
It should've been over.
But evil rarely dies quietly.
On the third night, while the city slept under a blood-red moon, an explosion rocked the warehouse. Guards were shredded by shrapnel, the building consumed by flames.
When Marco rushed to the scene, he found only charred bodies… and Matteo's cell empty.
"He's gone," Marco reported grimly over the phone. "Boss, Matteo's alive. Someone helped him escape."
Leonardo's grip on the phone turned bone-white. "Find him," he ordered coldly. "I want Matteo's head before sunrise."
Marco hesitated. "There's more. He left a message."
Minutes later, Leonardo stood in his office, reading Matteo's handwritten note smeared with blood:
"I told you, little brother… you can't kill the devil. The throne isn't the only thing I'll take. Tonight, your queen bleeds for your sins."
Leonardo's heart slammed against his ribs. "Isabella."
He sprinted through the mansion, calling her name. When he reached their bedroom, he found it empty—bed unmade, curtains fluttering in the night breeze.
On the balcony, a single white rose lay on the floor, tied with a ribbon bearing Matteo's seal.
"Boss!" Marco's voice boomed from downstairs. "They breached the gates—Matteo's men have her!"
Leonardo's world turned crimson.
A convoy of black SUVs tore through the city streets, Isabella trapped inside one, hands bound, a gag muffling her desperate cries.
Matteo sat beside her, his presence suffocating, his grin pure malice.
"You know," he drawled, twirling a knife between his fingers, "I almost feel bad for my baby brother. Almost."
Isabella glared at him, eyes blazing with hatred.
Matteo leaned closer, his breath cold against her ear. "He chose power over blood. Now, he'll have to choose between his empire… and you."
Back at the mansion, Leonardo armed himself like a man possessed—dual pistols, throwing knives, a combat shotgun slung over his shoulder.
"Boss," Marco said urgently, "this is a trap. Matteo wants you to come alone."
Leonardo chambered a round with deadly calm. "Good. Because I want him to know hell is coming."
Marco tried to follow, but Leonardo stopped him at the gates. "Protect the estate," he ordered. "If I don't come back, burn this city to the ground."
And with that, Leonardo roared off into the night on a black Ducati, a dark avenger riding toward his destiny.
Matteo's hideout was a decrepit shipyard, moonlight glinting off rusted cranes and shattered containers. Fires burned in barrels, casting monstrous shadows as Matteo's men patrolled with rifles.
Leonardo infiltrated like a phantom, silently snapping necks and slitting throats until only Matteo's guards near the dock remained.
From inside a warehouse, he heard Isabella scream.
He burst through the doors, guns blazing, cutting down Matteo's last henchmen in seconds.
Matteo stood at the far end, holding Isabella at knifepoint again—but this time, the knife pressed against her belly.
"Drop the weapons," Matteo hissed.
Leonardo's rage threatened to consume him, but he slowly set his guns on the ground, hands raised.
Matteo's grin widened. "Finally, the mighty king kneels."
Leonardo's voice was low, lethal. "This ends tonight. Release her, and I'll give you a quick death."
Matteo threw his head back, laughing manically. "Oh, little brother… you still don't get it. I don't want your mercy. I want your soul."
Matteo shoved Isabella aside, forcing her to the ground before lunging at Leonardo. The brothers clashed like feral beasts, fists cracking jaws, knives slashing flesh, blood spilling onto the cold steel floor.
"Everything you have should've been mine!" Matteo screamed, slamming Leonardo into a crate.
"You were never worthy!" Leonardo roared back, headbutting him viciously.
They grappled, neither willing to yield, until Matteo pulled a hidden revolver and aimed it at Isabella.
"Choose!" Matteo snarled, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Your queen… or your crown!"
Time slowed. Isabella screamed for Leonardo not to give in, but the world narrowed to Matteo's shaking gun and Leonardo's own pounding heartbeat.
With a guttural roar, Leonardo lunged—not for Matteo, but for Isabella, shielding her body as the gun went off.
The bullet tore through Leonardo's shoulder, blood spraying across the dock.
Fueled by pure fury, Leonardo spun, disarming Matteo with a brutal wrist lock before plunging Matteo's own knife deep into his brother's chest.
Matteo gasped, blood bubbling at his lips as Leonardo whispered against his ear:
"You lose… forever."
With a final, savage twist, Matteo collapsed, lifeless this time for good.
Leonardo staggered, clutching his bleeding shoulder. Isabella crawled to him, sobbing as she pressed her hands over the wound.
"Leo… oh God…" she cried, shaking.
He cupped her face weakly, forcing a pained smile. "You're safe… that's all that matters."
"Not if I lose you!" she screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
He pulled her close, his blood staining her clothes, his voice a hoarse vow. "No one… will ever take you from me. Not Matteo… not anyone."
Sirens wailed in the distance as Marco's reinforcements arrived.
As they carried Leonardo and Isabella away from the burning shipyard, Isabella looked back at Matteo's corpse floating in the dark water, knowing this chapter of blood and betrayal had finally ended.
But as dawn broke, Isabella felt the weight of what had been sacrificed. They had won…
…but at what cost to their souls?