Chapter 3 — The Cost of Mercy
Chapter 3 — The Cost of Mercy
Vincent stepped into the destroyed flower shop.
The familiar fragrance of roses and lilies had been replaced by broken glass, damp soil, and blood.
Every shelf had been overturned.
Flowerpots lay smashed across the wooden floor.
Petals floated through puddles of rainwater blowing in from the shattered windows.
Then he heard it.
A weak groan.
Toward the back of the shop.
Three men stood over a woman lying beside the worktable.
One carried a baseball bat stained with fresh blood.
Another stuffed cash from the register into a canvas bag.
The third grabbed Elena by the hair and forced her to look up.
"I told you," the man sneered. "Nobody refuses us twice."
He raised the bat again.
He never got the chance to swing.
"Drop it."
The voice echoed through the ruined shop.
Every man turned.
Recognition spread across their faces almost instantly.
Vincent Torino.
For one impossible second, nobody moved.
Then the man holding the bat laughed nervously.
"This isn't your business."
Vincent took another step.
"It is now."
The thug spat onto the floor.
"Walk away, old man."
Tony almost smiled.
Nobody had called Vincent an old man and lived to regret it.
The bat-wielding attacker lifted his weapon.
Vincent fired once.
The shot thundered through the building.
The bat slipped from numb fingers as the man collapsed before he even understood he'd been hit.
The remaining two reached for their guns.
Too late.
Tony's pistol barked twice.
One attacker crashed through a display of orchids.
The last dove behind the counter, firing wildly.
Bullets shattered glass vases.
Water sprayed across the room.
A bodyguard flanked him through the rear entrance.
One final shot.
Silence.
Only the rain remained.
Vincent lowered his weapon and walked toward Elena.
She barely moved.
Blood trickled from a deep cut above her temple.
Bruises covered her arms where someone had dragged her across the floor.
He carefully lifted her head.
For the first time, he truly saw her face.
Even bruised...
Even unconscious...
She looked exactly as he remembered from the cemetery years ago.
Gentle.
Kind.
Far too good for a world like this.
Behind him, Sophie rushed into the shop.
"Mama!"
She dropped beside Elena, clutching her mother's hand.
"Please wake up..."
Vincent looked toward Tony.
"Call an ambulance."
Tony didn't move.
Instead...
He stared at something near the back office.
His face slowly lost all color.
"Boss..."
Vincent looked up.
"What?"
Tony pointed toward the wall.
Someone had painted a message across the white plaster using blood.
May you like
Three chilling words.
WELCOME BACK, VINCENT.
