Checkmate
Gunfire lit up the night sky like hell itself had cracked open.
Adriano's boots crunched over shattered gravel as The Red Devils stormed Alessandro’s estate—an over-the-top modern fortress perched on a private cliffside like a Roman emperor’s wet dream. Expensive. Isolated, and arrogant.
Just like the man who lived in it.
Bullets ricocheted off the armored gates and low perimeter walls as Adriano’s men moved in like shadows made of gunpowder. Smoke grenades hissed. Muffled screams echoed. Bodies fell.
“Push forward!” Adriano barked into the comms. “Take out these motherfuckers. Alessandro’s gonna learn his lesson today.”
Behind him, Luca blasted two guards mid-sprint and grinned. “Bet your brother’s crying in his Versace bedsheets already.”
“Cryin’ or coked out,” Marco muttered as he drove a combat knife into a soldier’s throat. “Either way, let’s get to the part where we wreck his shit.”
“Serena,” Adriano called over the comms as he ducked behind a fountain riddled with bullet holes. “Talk to me. Where’s the breach point?”
“I’ve got eyes on all the cams,” her voice crackled coolly. “The compound’s crawling with soldiers but there’s a path. Southeast corner, between the pool deck and the greenhouse. Unsecured service door. I’m guiding you in.”
“Copy that.”
More of Alessandro’s men dropped like dominoes under the Red Devils’ siege. The outer courtyard was a war zone—bodies in black, smoke plumes, staccato of assault rifles lighting up the dark.
But they were winning.
“Perimeter’s clear!” someone called.
“Adriano!” Serena’s voice came sharp over comms. “Hold your position. The back entrance is packed. Alessandro’s men are dug in, waiting. It’s a goddamn ambush if you go through there.”
“Then give me something else,” Adriano snapped, crouched behind a hedge.
“I’m scanning… wait… okay. There’s a front entrance—main hallway. Lightly guarded. There's also a side entrance—kitchen corridor—only five heat signatures.”
“Then that’s our way in,” Luca said. “We split. Hit front and side loud and draw their attention. Meanwhile, some of us wait at the back. Once they shift focus, we go in from behind.”
Marco gave a satisfied grunt. “Like ripping a bitch in half. I like it.”
Adriano nodded. “Alright. Luca, take seven men and hit the front. Marco, flank the side with another seven. I’ll hold position here and wait for the signal. When the fuckers move, we break in.”
“On it,” Luca said and peeled off with his squad.
Marco locked eyes with Adriano for a moment. “Let’s burn this place down.”
Adriano smirked. “Try not to level the whole house before I get in.”
—
MOMENTS LATER…
Luca crouched behind the hedges near the main entrance, eyes locked on the pair of guards pacing lazily in front. He pressed his finger to his earpiece.
“Marco? You in position?”
“Locked and loaded,” Marco answered from his post at the side.
Adriano’s voice came through next. “Hold until my count.”
Silence.
Adriano’s breath steadied in his earpiece.
“One…”
A faint click as he cocked his gun.
“Two…”
A beat. The tension, wire-tight.
“Three!”
Gunfire exploded like thunder from both wings of the house.
Luca’s team surged forward, spraying bullets, taking out guards who never saw it coming. Marco’s men crashed through a side window, storming the kitchen in a blur of smoke and steel.
Adriano waited. One heartbeat. Two.
Then—
“Now!” he shouted, leading his team as they burst through the back entrance, guns blazing.
The moment they stormed in, Luca’s voice cut into comms.
“Um… Boss?” Luca said. “Something’s off.”
Adriano ducked behind a hallway column, his brows furrowed. “What do you mean something’s off?”
“There’s no one here,” Luca said. “No resistance. Not even a guard dog.”
Marco chimed in. “Same here. We walked in like it was Sunday brunch.”
Adriano’s stomach sank.
“Serena?” he said sharply. “You watching this?”
“Hold on—checking feeds again—” she paused. “Wait. Wait. Shit. SHIT!”
“What?”
“The footage—it’s a fucking loop! The security feeds—they’re not live! Alessandro tricked us!”
“WHAT?!” the three men said at once.
Serena’s voice was frantic. “You guys need to get out of there NOW! It’s a trap! It’s a fuckin—”
Silence.
“Serena? Serena, are you there?!” Adriano shouted into the comm. “FUCK!”
Then all of a sudden—BOOM!
Steel blast doors slammed shut around them, locking each team into separate wings of the house.
As if on cue, all the lights in the building went off, trapping them all in complete darkness. Adriano's men descended into chaos.
“Everyone SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Adriano yelled into the darkness as panic broke out around him. His men obeyed, instantly going silent.
Then—
BANG!
A gunshot rang out.
A Red Devil behind Adriano dropped like a sack of meat, Adriano felt something liquid splatter on him.
BLOOD.
“DOWN!” Adriano yelled.
Gunfire exploded wildly in the pitch black. Screams tore through the house as bullets flew blindly.
Adriano immediately got on the ground and crawled till he reached a marble column, breath ragged, bullets chewing into the wall just inches from his face.
He hit the comms. “Marco! Luca! Talk to me!”
No response. Just static.
“Shit,” he hissed.
After a short moment, everything went silent.
Adriano’s heart thudded so loud it echoed in his skull.
Then—tap… tap… tap…
Footsteps.
Slow and deliberate footsteps, coming from behind him.
Each step sent chills down Adriano's spine.
With every heartbeat, the footsteps got closer.
And closer.
His grip tightened on his gun. In total darkness, all he had was instinct and rage.
The footsteps suddenly stopped.
He pivoted and fired blindly. BANG!
He earned a scream in response.
He emptied half a clip in a furious burst, turning around and raining fire in circles while screaming like a mad man.
Then—BOOM!
Something slammed into the back of his head. Blinding pain exploded through his skull.
His vision blurred and his knees buckled.
He dropped to the floor, gun clattering beside him.
The last thing he heard before his eyes shut was faint, cruel laughter.