Chapter 33 Lupo #2
The restaurant is completely silent. The civilians are frozen, too terrified to move.
"Here's what's going to happen," I continue. "You're going to make a phone call. You're going to tell whoever has my family to let them go. Unharmed. Right now. And when I get confirmation that they're safe, then maybe I let you live long enough to regret ever hearing my name."
"You're insane," Vittorio says. "We have all the leverage..."
"You have nothing." My voice is cold. Absolute. "You think you're the first person to try this? You think I haven't dealt with threats before? You grabbed my family thinking it would make me weak. Thinking I'd negotiate. Thinking I'd back down. Thinking I’m a changed man."
I pick up Elena's rabbit from the table. Hold it carefully.
"But all you did was remind me who I am." I look at Vittorio. "The man who's killed everyone who's ever threatened what's mine." I squeeze the rabbit gently. "And you just threatened the only two people in the world I actually love."
“Boss." Ciro's voice is quiet. "We're surrounded.”
I watch Vittorio's face and see the doubt creeping in.
"The moment I don't check in with my men, they move. On your family. On your operations. On everything you've built."
It's a bluff. But it's a good one.
Because Vittorio doesn't know if I'm lying.
And he can't afford to find out.
"Make the call now," I say again. "Let my family go. Or we all die tonight, and your family dies tomorrow. Your choice."
Vittorio stares at me. I can see him calculating. Weighing options. Trying to figure out if I'm bluffing.
The truth is, I am. We don't have men positioned on his family. We didn't make those calls.
But I have something better than a plan.
I have absolute certainty that I will kill everyone in this room if that's what it takes.
The certainty that I will tear Florence apart brick by brick to find Isabella and Elena.
The certainty that I will spend every resource, burn every bridge, destroy everything I've built if that's what it takes to get them back.
And Vittorio sees it in my eyes.
Sees that I'm not negotiating. Not threatening. Just promising.
His hand moves slowly toward his phone.
"Smart choice," I say quietly.
He pulls out his phone and dials. Everyone in the restaurant is watching. Waiting.
"It's me," he says when someone answers. His voice is tight. "Release them. Both of them. Unharmed. Right now." A pause. "Because I'm fucking ordering you to do it. Do it."
He hangs up.
"There. Done. They'll be released within the hour."
"Where?"
"The old textile factory on Via Senese. Outside the city. They'll be left there unharmed."
"Call them back. Tell them to send proof. A photo. The woman holding her phone, showing the time."
Vittorio's jaw clenches but he makes the call. Gives the instructions.
We wait. Two minutes later, his phone buzzes. He looks at it, then turns it to show me.
A photo. Isabella, holding Elena, looking terrified but alive. She's holding a phone, the time clearly visible.
Three minutes ago.
They're still alive.
"Satisfied?" Vittorio asks.
"Not even close." I slip Elena's rabbit inside my jacket. "But it's a start."
"What now? We just walk away? Pretend this didn't happen?"
"No." I look at each man at the table. "Now you understand that you made an enemy of the wrong man." I pause. "And you live with that knowledge every single day. Wondering when I'll come for you. Wondering when I'll decide that letting you live was a mistake."
"You're letting us go?"
"For now. Because my family is safe. Because I have bigger concerns than revenge.
" I lean close to Vittorio. "But if you ever come near them again.
If you even think about them. If you say their names.
I will end you. Not quickly. Not mercifully.
I will destroy everything you are and everything you love. Understand?"
He nods slowly.
"Good." I straighten up, gesture to my men. "We're leaving. Nobody follows us. Nobody makes a move and we all walk away tonight."
"And tomorrow?" Vittorio asks.
"Tomorrow, we figure out a new arrangement.
One where you stay in Florence, I stay in Naples, and we never have to see each other again.
" I turn to leave, then stop. "Oh, and Vittorio?
If anything happens to my family. Anything at all, even an accident.
I'll know it was you. And there won't be any negotiations next time. "
I walk out of the restaurant, Ciro and my men following. The civilians are still frozen in fear. Vittorio's men are still positioned around the room, weapons ready.
But nobody moves.
Nobody stops us.
Because they saw in my eyes that I meant every word.
We get in the van and Ciro starts driving fast away from the restaurant. Toward Via Senese.
"Boss," he says quietly. "Did you really give orders about his family?"
"No."
"I didn't think so." He glances at me. "But you sold it well."
"Because I meant it. Maybe I didn't give the orders yet. But I will. If they touch Isabella and Elena, I'll burn Florence to the ground."
"I know." Ciro is quiet for a moment. "You got your memory back. I can tell. You're different."
"I'm Alessandro again. Don Rossi." I touch the rabbit inside my jacket. "But I'm also still Lupo. Still the man who reads bedtime stories."
"Can you be both?"
"I don't know." I stare out the window at the dark streets blurring past. "But I'm going to try."
We drive for twenty minutes. Out of Florence, into the industrial outskirts. Past warehouses and factories, most of them abandoned.
Then I see it. The old textile factory with the lights on inside.
"There," I say.
Ciro pulls up outside. I'm out of the van before it fully stops, running toward the building.
"Boss, wait!" Ciro shouts. "It could be a trap!"
But I don't care. Don't care about tactics or caution or survival.
I only care about them.
I burst through the door into a large, empty space. Old machinery. Concrete floors. Dust.
And there huddled alone in the corner are Isabella and Elena.
Alive.
"Daddy!" Elena screams.
She runs to me and I catch her, lifting her up, holding her so tight she squeaks in protest.
"I've got you, sweetheart. I've got you. You're safe."
Isabella is standing now, staring at me. Her face is tear-stained. Her hands are shaking.
"Lupo."
She collapses against me and I hold them both.
My family. Safe. Alive.
Everything else can wait.
The questions. The explanations. The future.
Right now, all that matters is this.
The three of us together.
I bury my face in Isabella's hair, breathing in the scent of her, feeling Elena's arms tight around my neck, and I make myself a promise.
No one will ever threaten them again.
Because I am Don Alessandro Rossi.
And I protect what's mine.