Vanessa claimed Sophie injured herself on a garage door, until Luca noticed the blood, the wheelchair, and one terrified look that told him his mother was missing. / Chapter 34 / 50

Chapter 34 - The Sovereign Citadel

The financial district was drowned in a sheet of torrential rain by midnight.

Neon lights from corporate skyscrapers bled across the slick asphalt like melted jewels. At the center of the concrete jungle loomed the Sovereign Tower, its black-glass spire piercing the low storm clouds, completely detached from the mortal world below.

Two blocks away, in the back of an unmarked delivery van, Matteo tapped rapidly on a military-grade tablet.

"Grid tap is active," Matteo murmured into his headset. "The freight elevator's primary security loop is frozen on a twelve-second buffer. If you breach the basement loading dock within the next ninety seconds, the internal sensors won't log the door release."

"Understood," Luca replied.

Luca, myself, and four of our most lethal operators crouched in the shadows of the alleyway behind the Sovereign’s subterranean garbage concourse. The rain drummed against our Kevlar helmets.

"Sophie," Luca whispered, his voice low over the comm channel. "Stay behind me. If we encounter heavy resistance, Dante covers our rear. We don't stop until we breach sixty-nine."

"Understood," I nodded, checking the suppressor on my 9mm.

"Three... two... one. Move!"

Dante sliced through the magnetic service lock with a portable thermite strip. The lock hissed, glowing molten orange for half a second before giving way with a muffled pop. We slipped through the heavy metal door like wraiths into the cavernous belly of the building.

The basement was a labyrinth of humming generators, massive cooling pipes, and concrete pillars.

"Hold," Dante hissed, raising a fist.

Around the corner, two private contractors in sleek tactical grey and night-vision goggles patrolled the service corridor. They bore no badges, but the crimson raven crest on their plate carriers confirmed everything: Antonio’s personal praetorian guard.

Luca didn't hesitate.

He lunged forward, sweeping the first guard’s legs out from under him while driving a combat blade beneath the man’s chin in one seamless, terrifying motion. Before the second guard could raise his rifle, I raised my pistol and squeezed the trigger twice.

*Pfft. Pfft.*

The suppressed rounds punched through the guard's visor. He crumpled silently into the puddle of condensation beneath a steam pipe.

Luca looked back at me, his eyes widening slightly beneath his hood. "Remind me never to make you angry, little bird."

"Save the flattery for the penthouse," I whispered, stepping over the fallen mercenary. "Elevator is thirty meters ahead."

We reached the industrial lift—a massive steel cage designed to haul heavy machinery to the upper executive suites. Luca punched the override sequence from the Judas Ledger into the maintenance panel.