Chapter 85 – The Devil Who Raised Me

Chapter 85 – The Devil Who Raised Me
Dante’s POV

The sound of the bullet cracking through flesh was sharp and satisfying. Vincenzo’s shoulder jerked back as blood bloomed like a flower across his suit. He dropped to one knee, roaring in pain. His guards panicked, shouting, aiming their rifles. But I didn’t flinch. I fired again. One down. Then another.

And then…

Click.

Empty. Again. I’d counted wrong.

Fuck.

The next second hit me like lightning. A shot rang out from my left, and heat seared through my shoulder. My whole arm jerked as if someone had plugged it into a live wire. The gun fell from my hand, clattering against the dirt and gravel.

I stumbled back, air knocked from my lungs.

Everything blurred.

Someone shouted my name but I couldn’t tell who. Maybe it was just the ringing in my ears. My knees hit the ground first. Then I reached for the pistol, fingers inches away.

But a heavy boot came down hard on my arm.

I grunted, pain exploding up my nerves like wildfire.

“Not so fast,” a cold voice sneered.

Then came the butt of a rifle.

One brutal slam to my temple, and darkness swallowed me whole.

———————

I woke to silence. My head throbbed. The kind of pain that told me I’d been out for a while. I tried to move, but leather straps bit into my wrists and ankles. I was tied to a metal chair, arms bound behind me, chest aching, mouth dry as sandpaper.

The floor beneath me was concrete.

A single light bulb buzzed above me, swinging slightly. The smell of blood mixed with engine oil. Somewhere, water dripped in the distance.

A warehouse?

A basement?

Footsteps echoed.

I lifted my head, the world tilting for a moment before leveling out. My eyes focused slowly on the man emerging from the shadows.

Gabriel Rucci.

No longer in disguise. No mask. No false smiles. Just him. In all his treacherous glory. A man I’d trusted. A man who had played me for decades.

He looked older. Sharper. His eyes colder than usual, wolfish and empty. He wore a tailored coat and black gloves, like this was a fucking business meeting.

My blood roared in my ears.

“You’re awake,” he said coolly. “Good. We have things to discuss.”

I spat blood onto the floor. “You have five seconds before I tear out your throat.”

He smiled. “Still fiery. I hoped you would be.”

I yanked at the straps. Nothing gave. My shoulder screamed from the bullet wound.

“You’re responsible for the fire,” I growled. “I saw everything. You killed them.”

Gabriel tilted his head. “I didn’t just kill them, Dante. I planned it. Every detail. And do you know what the hardest part was?”

I stared at him, fists clenching.

“Convincing your mother to stay longer that night,” he said, voice soft, almost nostalgic. “She was going to leave early. That would’ve ruined everything.”

I saw red.

“You worked for him!” I snarled. “You served my father for years! Why betray him?”

His expression twisted into something darker. “Your father called me weak. Reckless. Said I was too ambitious. After decades of loyalty, he discarded me like garbage. So I gave him the death he deserved.”

“And slaughtered my family?” I hissed. “Burned them alive because you got fired?”

“No,” Gabriel said calmly. “I burned them alive because I had to. Because men like me don’t go quietly. Because I wasn’t going to let him take my life’s work without punishment. I killed him. And afterward, killed the rest of your family.”

I couldn’t breathe. Rage pressed down on my chest like a fucking anvil.

“You… killed him?”

I stared at Gabriel, and for a moment, everything around us faded. The straps cutting into my wrists. The sting of dried blood on my face. Even the searing throb in my bullet-ridden shoulder dulled beneath the weight of his confession.

“You planned the fire… and you pulled the trigger?” I said, slower this time, tasting the venom with every syllable.

Gabriel didn’t flinch. “Yes.”

For a second, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even think. It was as if someone had reached inside my chest and crushed whatever was left of my heart.

“You knew the Bratva would take the fall,” I said slowly, realization dawning. “You made it all look like a hit from them.”

He smiled. “Of course. And you believed it. Spent years chasing ghosts.”

“You miserable, backstabbing piece of shit,” I growled, the words barely getting past my clenched teeth. “He took you in. He gave you everything.”

I yanked at the restraints, fury making me blind. “You stood at his table. Ate his food. Watched his children grow.”

My voice broke, rage and grief tangling in my throat like barbed wire.

“You didn’t just betray him,” I spat. “You betrayed me. I looked up to you. I trusted you. I owed you my life!”

He stepped closer, but I didn’t shrink away. If I could’ve lunged for his throat, I would’ve ripped it open with my teeth.

“You want to talk about punishment?” I hissed, my voice low and sharp. “You think you’re safe because I’m tied to a fucking chair? You think this ends with you still breathing?”

He arched a brow, calm as ever. But I saw the flicker of doubt in his eyes.

“You better pray I never get out of this,” I snarled. “Because when I do, I’m not just going to kill you—I’m going to fucking erase you. Every deal you’ve made, every man who owes you, every secret you think is safe—I’ll burn it all to the ground. And then I’ll drag you through the ashes.”

“You’re not your father,” Gabriel said coldly. “You’re nothing like him.”

“No,” I agreed. “I’m worse.”

“And I swear to every god watching,” I continued, eyes locked to his like iron, “before this ends—I’ll make you wish you died in that fire with the rest of them.”

He just stood there. Cold. Detached. Like murder was just part of the business.

My mind spun. Every memory, every story I thought I understood, now twisted…. poisoned by the truth. But even in the chaos, something clawed at me. A sliver of doubt. A fracture in his story.

I shook my head. “One thing doesn’t add up. You went back for me. You pulled me from the fire. Why not let me die too?”

For a second, his smile faltered.

He took a step closer, crouching until his face was level with mine.

“You think I saved you out of mercy?” he murmured. “You were a loose end, Dante. But a useful one. That vault your father kept hidden—the one only you could open with your fingerprint?”

My stomach dropped.

“No…”

“Yes,” he whispered. “You were trying to save your family. Brave, idiotic move. And I realized… if you burned with them, I’d never access the millions your father locked away. So I dragged your sorry body out of the flames. Patched you up and fed you lies.”

Memories came rushing back—Gabriel’s careful words after the fire. His sympathy. His loyalty.

All fake.

“You manipulated me,” I said, voice low. “You used me.”

“For years,” he said, satisfied. “You opened the safe when I asked. You let me in. You trusted me with your empire.”

I blinked, numbness setting in.

It had all been a game.

He wasn’t a friend. He wasn’t even an enemy. He was a puppeteer.

“And now?” I asked. “Why not just kill me?”

He shrugged. “Don’t flatter yourself, Dante. You were always just a means to an end. And now, the end is here.”

A slow clap echoed from the shadows behind Gabriel.

“Well, this is poetic,” a familiar voice drawled.

Vincenzo stepped into view, his arm bandaged, his smug face bruised but still too fucking smug. He walked a slow circle around me, inspecting me like a bug under glass.

“Look at you,” he sneered. “Chained. Bleeding. Broken. Just like your father.”

I kept my expression cold.

“You’re nothing without him,” Vincenzo continued. “Just a scared boy trying to live up to a legacy you didn’t earn.”

I smiled at him. “Funny. You’re still in my shadow. Even when I’m tied to a chair.”

His face darkened. He stepped closer, voice low and venomous. “You were always the golden boy. The heir. While I was the fucking errand dog. You think I didn’t hate you for it?”

He let that bitterness hang in the air before spitting the words that followed. “You should’ve died with them, Dante.”

He drew a knife from his belt.

“You won’t get another chance,” he whispered.

Gabriel folded his arms, watching like it was theatre. “Say goodbye, Dante. You were a good soldier. Loyal. Gullible. But your story ends here.”

My heart pounded. Not with fear.

With fury.

“You think this is the end?” I rasped. “You think tying me up makes you powerful? Even in death, he’s still the man you can’t outrun. That’s why you’re so desperate to kill me.”

Gabriel’s face twitched. For the first time, he looked… rattled.

I pressed harder. “He was better than you. Smarter. Stronger. You’ll never escape his shadow.”

He stepped forward, grabbing my jaw in a tight grip.

“You’re going to die just like he did,” he snarled.

“Then do it,” I spat. “But you better make sure I don’t get back up. Because if I do… I’m taking you both down with me.”

Vincenzo raised the knife. The tip kissed my throat. My pulse didn’t flinch—because rage had replaced fear.

One wrong move. One second too slow. That’s all I needed.