Chapter 8 - The House of the Falcon
The Falcone estate was a sprawling mansion,
surrounded by high walls and armed guards.
It was a fortress designed to keep the world out,
but it wasn't designed to keep Vincent Torino away.
A fleet of black SUVs pulled up to the front gates,
and before the guards could even raise their radios,
they were staring down the barrels of thirty rifles.
The gates were rammed open,
the metal groaning as the SUVs surged through.
Vincent stepped out of the lead vehicle,
his coat billowing in the wind,
his face a mask of iron.
He walked toward the front door,
his men forming a phalanx around him.
The door opened before he reached it,
and Carmine Falcone stepped out,
flanked by his own lieutenants.
Carmine was a smaller man,
given to expensive silk shirts and a fake,
oily smile.
"Vincent!"
Carmine called out,
his voice forced.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this...
unannounced visit?"
Vincent didn't stop until he was a foot away,
his presence looming over the smaller man.
"You sent men into my territory,
Carmine,"
Vincent said,
his voice like grinding stone.
"You sent men to beat a mother in front of her child."
Carmine tried to laugh,
but it died in his throat.
"It was business,
Vincent,"
he stammered.
"Information we needed...
nothing personal."
Vincent’s hand moved faster than the eye could see,
grabbing Carmine by the throat and slamming him against the stone wall.
The Falcone guards moved,
but Vincent’s men were faster,
their weapons trained on every target.
"Everything is personal,
Carmine,"
Vincent hissed,
his grip tightening.
"The blood on that girl’s dress is personal."
"The three days her mother spent in terror is personal."
"And the fact that you thought you could do it in my city,"
"is a personal insult to my name."
He leaned in closer,
his eyes boring into Carmine’s.
"You want the ledgers?"
"I don't care about the ledgers."
"But you’re going to pay for the medical bills."
"You’re going to pay for the apartment I’m buying them."
"And then,"
Vincent whispered,
"you’re going to leave this city."
"By midnight."
"If you’re still here when the sun comes up,"
"I won't just kill you,
Carmine."
"I’ll burn everything you’ve ever loved to the ground."
He threw the man aside like a piece of trash.
"Midnight,"
Vincent repeated,
May you like
turning back to his car.
"Not a second later."
