Chapter 84 — A Bloody Reunion

The Falco Estate. Mariangela, Umbria.

MAXIMILIANO.

The sun hid behind huge clouds when I arrived at the estate. So far the concrete fence looked intact. Still tall and imposing.

For their safety, the homeowners were absent. Probably why the trees and shrubs around the mansion looked like they needed a trim. The property's vintage charm retained its serene beauty that did its best to conceal the haunting memories of our family's troubled past.

Right now, only Alessio and I knew the dark secrets this place held. They might scare off our company of five, so I'd keep my mouth shut for now.

“Alei.” I gave my bodyguard a nod while Elio, my cousin's head of security, issued orders to his men in front of the guard house.

The mounting tension was palpable. I couldn't shake the feeling that my father and his wanted mistress were watching me from afar. Somewhere hidden. Someplace near. Someplace he believed none of us would find.

“Boss?” Alessio lit a cigarette and glanced behind to look at me.

“Get me another gun. This one’s shit.” I glared at him and tossed the old Beretta he gave me before our quick meeting with Elio.

His tan face wrinkled by a scowl, Alessio replaced the weapon with his extra pistol, mumbling something in Italian.

“What?” The cold gun he gave me glistened in my grip, its smooth barrel taunting me. The tough steel, minimal recoil, and its accuracy made it a deadly tool. These guys tagging along were probably just waiting for me to start the fireworks.

“Stay close,” Alessio muttered.

“Chill out.” I flicked a dead leaf off my sleeve. “We're not even close to the maze.”

“I'm serious, Maxim.”

I smirked.

He didn't appreciate it.

Behind him, the other guys I brought along stood close to each other as if they'd get lost if they didn't. Clearly they hadn't seen a property this big. And this creepy.

They looked like they'd get the job done in no time, but some of them might not get out of here alive. Well, they signed up for this. I'd bet at least one of them was a trigger-happy, bored as fuck headcase just itching for some action.

The others...probably confused or about to piss their pants. The pale blond dude, particularly. His hands wouldn't stop fidgeting, and he kept glancing at Ricchar's sprawling old mansion as if he just saw a ghost.

The rest of the estate remained quiet. The drab weather only intensified the eerie silence.

"You sure Fabrizio spotted the girl?" I stood behind Alessio, his extra gun strapped onto his hip.

He took a drag and blew smoke away from me. "He said she ran into the tunnel with a duffel bag."

I scoffed as he gave a more detailed description of the girl my father callously dragged all the way out here. I bet he'd pull a gun on her eventually. Use her as a bargaining chip if he deemed it necessary.

"Great," I sighed when Alessio said that the bodyguard on day shift, Fabrizio, followed the girl into the tunnel but ran off when he heard gunshots. "And the wired cameras?"

Alessio scowled and stomped on his cig. "The cables didn't reach the end of the tunnel."

Of course. The secret passageway must be too deep. Too long. Knowing my father, he must've set up some traps down there, too.

"Let's go. We're not waiting for Levesque." I cocked my gun before walking straight into the maze with the other guards right behind me.

Cold gusts shook the leaves on the trees and hedges surrounding our path. The dull sky cast faint sunlight across the maze. The reek was the same—dead leaves mixed with the stench of rotting animal manure.

I scrunched up my nose at the faint smell of smoke from a trash fire. Ricchar's staff getting rid of the garbage, most likely.

"Niente tiri alla testa," I told the guys behind me after checking the clip in my gun. Full and ready. Just waiting to be emptied. [No head shots.]

"Okay, Signore." [Okay, Sir.]

I didn't drive all the way out here just to end up burying a bloody headless corpse. I had enough nightmares to deal with on a regular basis.

Alessio gripped his Glock and stayed in front of me, his steps careful, barely making any noise.

It took us a few minutes to reach the hollow part of the maze. The air was a bit cold. Stale like I remembered.

We reached the family mausoleum somewhat hidden in the heart of the labyrinth. It boasted a grand Victorian structure, and a large cross sat on top. Stained angel statues and old marble columns still surrounded the entrance.

The structure looked older than the mansion, but still upright. Dusty white paint covered the once-elegant walls that were crumbling in some places. The sides were adorned with ivy, weeds and other vines that had overtaken the single-storey edifice.

Alessio and my armed bodyguards waited behind me as I stood in front of the tall doors. I lifted the heavy padlocks. The rusty chains secured the entrance, but the misty glass windows gave me a pretty clear view of the interior.

Ricchar's father had this concrete enclosure built before Ricchar was even born. Zio was still buried inside, together with Ricchar's mother and the remains of our grandparents.

Their tombs looked the same. The letters in their names glinted under the streaks of sunlight creeping through the windows and the holes in the wall.

My grandparents must be turning over in their graves for all the messed up shit Pappa had been doing all these years. Pretty long list, and I didn't have the time to confess them all in front of my dead family.

Instead I muttered a quick prayer, then lit a cigarette and backed away from the chains. "I'm cleaning up his mess now." As smoke warmed my fingers, I stared at the tombs and took a drag. The menthol soothed my throat, quelling the urge to murder the selfish bastard that had disgraced our family name beyond repair.

Just something I had to do.

***

In and out. This shouldn't take long.

The air hung heavy with tension as we stood in front of the tunnel's entrance. Shit. This place stank and gave serial kidnapper vibes.

The guards flanked by Alessio and me. I could feel the nerves radiating from them, basically mirroring my own thoughts. "Let's have a look inside, shall we?" I feigned a grin.

Alessio exchanged a skeptical look with me.

Neither of us had a clue how Mykaela's half-brother found out about this tunnel, or how Magnus knew about the maze and figured there was a hidden bunker at the end of the tunnel.

But I didn't really care about that right now. We were getting closer to our target. Much closer.

We couldn't hesitate any longer. We were losing sunlight. If we stayed down here too long, the riskier our situation. We had a hastily planned exit strategy, to say the least.

"Avanti." [Forward.] Alessio nodded at the guys.

They walked past me and followed his lead along the dilapidated stone path. Seconds ticked by. Every step and rustle seemed amplified. Anticipation and my ominous imagination only prolonged the tension.

The smell of damp earth filled the air as we approached the pitch-black part of the tunnel. If there was actually an old bunker hidden somewhere down here, it shouldn't be far-off.

Alessio and the guys pushed through some tangled undergrowth with our tiny flashlights guiding us. Roughly two minutes later, we stopped in front of a concealed entrance. It didn't look like a door, almost entirely hidden beneath thick knots of old, grimy, overgrown vines.

"Fuck me." This must be the entrance to the bunker. Hidden in plain sight. Just taunting us. I drew my gun after Alessio and I shared a bewildered look.

"Stay behind," he murmured after staring at me. Some apprehension creased the skin between his dark brows. He must be thinking whatever waited for us inside was far from welcoming.

I trusted his instinct.

"Go," he told Blondie and the rest.

The guards followed suit, their expressions grim and a bit nervous, yet also determined.

One by one, we snuck into the dim and narrow entrance that must be leading us straight into the bunker. The air was thick with the scent of age and dirt.

"Cazzo," Blondie sighed.

"Shut your mouth." I took careful steps, forcing my eyes to adjust to the dimness. My heart pounded as we snuck deeper into the secret passage.

And then there he was.

Stefano Falco.

In the flesh.

Alive and well.

He looked haggard, though. Alone. Unkempt and older than I remembered.

His thick, graying beard matched the front strands of his jaw-length hair. He wore an old pair of leather boots, a wrinkled gray shirt, and stained khaki pants with side pockets. An absolute downgrade from the designer clothes he was used to in his past life.

He lazily got up from the unmade bed, his tired gaze meeting mine. When I kept my mouth shut, he tossed away the paperback he held.

I gritted my teeth at the nonchalance in his movements.

But his fake smile did little to mask the desperation lurking behind his soulless eyes. "Maxim."

I gripped my gun. I should point it at his smug face, but I didn't want to alarm him and the nervous guards.

They put down their weapons at Alessio's command, his voice firm and fairly tense. He stood closest to Pappa.

Two of the guards stood next to an open shelf that looked as dusty as the concrete floor. The others stood beside a long slab of wood that looked like a makeshift dining table.

"Glad you're okay."

Liar. I tilted my chin. "Bullshit."

Stefano dropped the fake grin and ran his pale, wrinkly hand through his hair. He looked like he'd been starving for days. Sleepless and weary. His hoarse voice said enough. He deserved it, though.

And I should hate him to the depths of my soul. But there was something undeniably pitiful about his current state. Where the fuck did he hide his mistress?

"Where's the girl?" I put my gun down. I glared at him and took a cautious step forward, my legs slightly quivering. "How long you been hiding down here?"

Instead of answering, he cleared his throat as his gaze darted around the dimly lit bunker. "What do you want?" The bastard sighed out loud as if my questions bored him already.

I clenched my fists, my chest tight and breathless. "How long?" I shouted. My hands were itching to choke some answers out of him, but he might pull a gun on Alessio and shoot him in the head.

"Long enough. Why does it matter?"

"Why here?" I demanded. The frustration was already making my blood boil.

Fair to say he'd left a trail of destruction in his wake the moment he took the chance to escape the law. But of course he couldn't care less.

The realization just hit me like a punch in the gut. "How'd you do it? Why here?" I stared him down, the loud thuds in my chest almost painful. "You really thought we'd never catch up, huh?"

His gray eyes locked onto mine again. The wry smile on his lips was laced with bitterness. As if he just succumbed to the reality that he had nowhere left to hide. "Tsk. Tsk. After all this time, Maxim..."

"What?"

"You still have no idea, of everything I've done to protect you and your mother."

Protect me? "Protect Mamma? What?" I scoffed. "Protect us? Are you that delusional?" A surge of anger flared in me, but I stayed put. Well, I expected this. I knew there was no way he would just surrender without a fight. "Protect? " I shook my head, gripping the loaded gun at my side, my voice trembling. "For years, she's been nothing but loyal to you, you selfish prick. And you've caused nothing but pain. Disappointment. Guilt for things she didn't even do!"

He took a step closer. Exhaustion and a hint of regret etched more lines on his sagging face.

But I shouldn't buy it.

He was a master manipulator through and through. Incredibly selfish. Just incapable of change. "I did what I had to do."

I forced a laugh and glanced at Alessio who glared at my father, just waiting for something to happen. "Really? That's all you got?" My fist clenched with the emotions warring inside me. Anger. Betrayal. Letdown. And the unwelcome, profound connection to the man standing before me.

"Look," he sighed. "I've made choices I can't change. Done things I can't undo. But I tried. Alright? I tried, bambino." His gaze held mine, and for a moment, there was a speck of remorse in his vacuous eyes. "Things didn't work out as I had planned, but you and I both know I did them for you. For our family."

"You seriously think I'd still buy that? Huh?" I smirked and squinted at his scowl. "After all the fucked up shit you did?"

He maintained his rigid stance beside the messy bed about ten feet away. The coverless side revealed a metal frame. Rust had browned the edges, but the frame looked intact.

I held my breath, the walls almost closing in around us. My face and neck were heating up with the emotions raging inside me. But I had to feign control. Keep calm. Like I knew exactly what I was doing.

I took another step forward.

Then a deafening noise shattered the silence, followed by Alessio's booming voice saying something I didn't catch.

Shit. "Argh!" Something hit my arm.

No. My shoulder.

Pain radiated to my back.

"Maxim! Get down!"

It stang. It ached. Burned. "Fuck!" There was something wet under my shirt.

Blood.

Someone fucking shot me.