Chapter 180: Sofia Is Missing

Night had fallen, and the city lights flickered like distant stars over the darkened streets.

In a private, command room, Dante stood before multiple monitors, his jaw tight, eyes sharp as blades.

Matteo was beside him, going over the last coordinates, his fingers tapping against the table nervously.

“Are all units in position?” Dante asked, voice low but commanding.

Matteo nodded. “Yes, all of them. Your orders were precise. Every Marino warehouse… every De Luca location we could confirm. All teams are in sync.”

Dante’s gaze didn’t waver from the screens. “Good.”

A small button clicked under his finger. Maps blinked with red markers, the locations of warehouses, compounds, and storage facilities. Each marker a target, each target a piece of the empire he was determined to dismantle.

“Once this starts,” Dante said, voice calm but deadly, “we hit every point simultaneously. Marino doesn’t get a warning. De Luca doesn’t get a warning. We finish this in one night. Any stray survivors… Matteo, you know the rules.”

“I know,” Matteo replied. “No loose ends.”

Dante’s lips pressed into a thin line, his hand hovering over the command panel.

Without a second thought, he pressed the final confirmation.

Across the city, explosions lit the night. Alarms screamed in every Marino warehouse Dante’s team had targeted.

Armed teams swarmed through the facilities, capturing men, destroying illegal stockpiles, tearing down the empire piece by piece.

Simultaneously, De Luca’s warehouses erupted in chaos. Matteo’s elite units moved like shadows, swift and silent, taking out guards, securing evidence, and ensuring no one escaped with vital information.

Dante watched it all from the monitors, his eyes glinting in the dim light. There was no hesitation in his movements, no mercy in his commands.

A single monitor caught his attention: one Marino warehouse was unusually filled with guards. Dante narrowed his eyes. “That one,” he muttered, voice low. “I want it first. Matteo, deploy the elite squad. Make sure it falls tonight.”

Matteo’s fingers flew over the controls. “Understood. We are ready. We move in.”

Dante exhaled slowly, allowing a rare moment of focus to center him. The war he had been planning for months, the one that had started with betrayal and blood was finally here.

He didn’t just want to destroy the enemy; he wanted to leave a message. One that could never be erased.

As explosions and gunfire erupted across the city, Dante’s hands rested firmly on the table, eyes fixed on the monitors. This was more than revenge. This was justice and tonight, every enemy would learn that crossing Dante Romano came at a cost they could not survive.

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The morning was quiet, the sunlight barely creeping past the blinds of Sofia’s room in the apartment provided for them.

Her mind raced as she pored over maps, phone records, and every scrap of information she could gather about Isabella’s disappearance.

She knew she couldn’t wait for Dante or Matteo to act. Time was slipping, and Isabella’s life could be in danger. Sofia scribbled a quick note, folding it neatly and placing it where Matteo would find it: “I’m going out to see if I can find her. Don’t worry, I will be careful. Sofia.”

Her determination outweighed her fear. She slipped into a light jacket, checked her phone one last time, and sneaked out into the city streets.

Hours passed. Sofia traced possible safe houses, talked to contacts, followed leads that felt increasingly like dead ends.

And then, just as she turned down a narrow alleyway near the docks, a van screeched silently behind her. Before she could react, strong arms grabbed her from both sides, and a cloth pressed to her face. Panic clawed at her throat as darkness took her.

When she awoke, she found herself in an unfamiliar, dimly lit room. The smell of damp concrete and oil filled the air.

Her wrists were bound, and a single overhead bulb cast harsh shadows across the walls.

She could hear muffled voices nearby.

Sofia’s mind raced. Isabella. She could be here.

A sense of hopelessness pressed against her chest, but Sofia refused to let it consume her. She strained against the ropes, scanning the room for anything she could use to escape, her thoughts sharp and rapid. I’ll find Isabella, no matter what.

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Sofia’s room was unusually silent when Marco noticed it, he entered and found a folded note lying conspicuously on the table.

His eyes narrowed as he picked it up, recognizing Sofia’s handwriting immediately.

“I’m going out to see if I can find her. Don’t worry, I will be careful. Sofia.”

His heart thudded violently in his chest. “Matteo…” he called, voice trembling slightly.

Matteo, who had been sifting through documents, turned sharply at Marco’s tone. Marco gave him the note, his eyes fell on the note reading through it, and a cold chill ran down his spine.

“She went out… on her own?” His voice was tight, almost strangled.

“She didn’t tell anyone. Look, Matteo… she went looking for Isabella herself.”

Matteo’s mind raced. He could picture Sofia navigating the city streets alone, vulnerable, unaware that the same forces who had taken Isabella were still at large.

Every second that passed could be the difference between finding her and losing her. His chest tightened with urgency.

“We don’t have time,” Matteo muttered, rising immediately, eyes darting to the door. “We need to find them before it’s too late.”

Marco nodded, swallowing hard. “I know. But… what if they’ve moved her already? What if she’s… she’s with them now?” His voice faltered.

Matteo grabbed his jacket, pacing briefly before fixing Marco with a determined stare. “We need Dante. He needs to know. Now.”

Almost instinctively, Matteo made his way to Dante’s penthouse.

Matteo knocked sharply, “Dante,” he called through the door. “We need to move—Sofia’s missing!”

Dante opened the door. “What do you mean missing?”

Matteo handed him the note without hesitation. “She left to look for Isabella herself… she didn’t tell anyone. Marco found this.”

“She’s walking into their trap,” he growled.

“We have to find them now, Dante. Before Valentina, Luca… whoever has them realizes she’s coming.”

Dante’s lips pressed into a thin line, and for a moment, he was silent, calculating, his mind moving a hundred steps ahead.

Then, with a swift motion, he grabbed his coat and keys. “Let’s move,” he said, his voice a mixture of controlled rage and command. “We hit every possible safe house, every warehouse… we don’t stop until they’re found.”