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BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 115: THE TIES THAT CHOKE
Rain fell over the city like a funeral veil, turning alleyways into streams and rooftops into drumheads. Thunder cracked low in the distance, and lightning danced over the skyline like the wrath of forgotten gods.In a darkened basement beneath an abandoned theater on Varnum Street, Carrick Gale stared at a wall of photos, maps, and red-thread connections pinned together in a sprawling web of vengeance. His shirt was soaked at the collar, blood flecks speckling his sleeves, and the half-empty glass of whiskey in his hand trembled slightly as he drank.Victor stood nearby, arms crossed. "Three more trucks gone tonight. Docks, north line, and the salvage yard. Alessia's moving faster than we predicted."Carrick didn’t look away from the board. "She’s not trying to cripple us anymore. She’s trying to humiliate us. Publicly. Repeatedly."Victor nodded. "She wants the city to see you bleeding."Carrick downed the rest of his drink and set the glass down hard enough that it cracked. "Then w
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 116: SMOKE BEFORE FIRE
The Gale estate was quiet...too quiet. It was the kind of stillness that blanketed a place right before a storm broke, before sirens screamed and bullets ripped through the night.Inside the war room, Carrick leaned over the city map, his palms pressed flat against the table. The flickering overhead light cast deep shadows across his face, sharpening the grim lines carved by sleepless nights and too many bodies.Victor entered without knocking. His shirt was soaked from the rain, his brow furrowed.“They hit the convoy outside Westbridge,” he said, tossing a blood-stained envelope onto the table. “Four of our men dead. One of the trucks burned. They left this behind.”Carrick didn’t move at first. Then slowly, he picked up the envelope. Inside was a single black feather and a slip of parchment. On it, scrawled in crimson ink: ‘For Elena. For every name you buried beneath your throne.’His jaw tightened. “Alessia.”Victor nodded grimly. “She’s escalating. These aren’t just retaliatory
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 117: THE BLOOD TAX
The storm that had lingered over the city for three straight days finally broke, leaving behind a thick veil of fog that crawled between alleys like a living thing. In the early morning light, the city looked like it was holding its breath.Inside a shuttered café in the North Quarter, Alessia De Luca met with her captains.Lucien stood against the counter, arms crossed, while two lieutenants...Vincent and Isla...leaned over a map spread across the table. The scent of old coffee and gun oil filled the room."We crippled the last of his Southbridge shipments last night," Vincent said, tapping the map. "Ammo, fuel, bribes to the port guards. All gone.""And the port guard?" Alessia asked."Paid off and packing bags. Some of them want to switch sides."Alessia glanced at Lucien. "Vetting them?""Thoroughly. Nobody gets through unless we own them, body and soul," Lucien said.Isla, a scarred woman with cold eyes and a voice like gravel, added, "Carrick's starting to panic. He pulled men f
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 118; FAULTLINES
The warehouse in Southpoint was supposed to be a routine supply drop. Neutral ground. Nothing more than a checkpoint to move arms and launder money through the docks. But when Enzo pushed open the side door and found three of Carrick's men hanging from the rafters, blood still dripping from their slashed throats, he knew neutrality was dead."Holy shit," muttered Luca, the youngest of the crew. He backed away, eyes wide, stomach already heaving. Enzo pulled his gun immediately, sweeping the room."Clear it. Now."They moved fast, years of training kicking in. But the place was empty. No shooters. No threats. Just three corpses strung up like warnings, their chests carved with the mark of the De Luca family...a dagger through a serpent.Enzo crouched by the nearest body, jaw clenched. "They were tortured. This wasn't just a hit. It was a message.""Think it's Alessia?" Luca asked, his voice barely above a whisper.Enzo stood slowly. "She's not playing around anymore."At the Gale estat
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 119: WHEN THE KNIVES CAME OUT
Rain fell in fine needles over the city, soft but ceaseless, muting the hum of traffic and neon. It was the kind of rain that made streets feel deserted even when people passed you by. It clung to everything, soaking the sidewalks, the cigarette butts crushed into gutters, the shoes of men walking to war.Carrick Gale stood at the balcony of his estate, coat unbuttoned, letting the rain slide off his skin. He needed the cold. It grounded him. The city looked blurred from up here, dreamlike, as if it were trying to disguise its sins behind a veil of water.Victor approached from behind, his footsteps soft. "We have a problem."Carrick didn’t look back. "Just one?"Victor handed him a phone. "It’s Enzo. You need to hear this."Carrick took the phone and brought it to his ear. Enzo’s voice was a mix of urgency and exhaustion."They hit the South Ward stash. Burned it. Took everything. Left our guys in pieces."Carrick's jaw tightened. "Alessia?""Her style. They were efficient. Precise.
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 120: CRIME WAR
Carrick Gale stood before the towering glass window of the penthouse war room, his silhouette sharp against the bruised skyline. Nightfall draped the city in a veil of steel and sorrow, the streets below lit by flickering orange glows and distant sirens. He hadn't moved in over an hour.Victor entered quietly, coat damp with rain, boots leaving a trail of water across the marble. "They hit the Raven's Gate warehouse," he said. "Three dead. Two more missing. One of them was Nico."Carrick didn’t flinch. "And the shipments?""Gone. Up in smoke. Alessia’s people left a message painted across the wall."Victor tossed a folded photo onto the table. Scrawled in red were the words: "Not vengeance. Balance."Carrick turned from the window at last. "How many hits this week?""Five. Small-time dealers are flipping. Our suppliers in the Eastside are scared. She's bleeding us slow."Enzo burst through the door next, phone still in hand. "Boss, we’ve got a bigger problem. Arturo Salvi’s name is ba
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 121: CRIMSON TIDES
The rain hadn’t let up all night. It came down in cold sheets, hammering the city and washing away the bloodstains left behind from the latest skirmish near the south docks. Carrick stood beneath the awning of a half-collapsed warehouse, trench coat soaked, hair plastered to his forehead. The men behind him were quiet, watching the streets through narrowed eyes.Victor approached from the alley, his shoulder bleeding and his expression tight with fury. "They hit our courier line. Two trucks down. One torched."Carrick’s jaw flexed. "How far in?""Right under our noses. Just a block from the safehouse on Granger. We lost ten crates of rifles. That was our shipment from Serbia."Carrick exhaled, a cloud of steam escaping his lips. "Alessia knows our routes. She’s bleeding us one vein at a time."Victor winced as he pulled off his soaked jacket. "We can hit back. Hard. We know where Salvi’s been hiding his muscle. You give the word, we burn it to the ground."Carrick didn’t respond immed
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 122: A WHISPER BEFORE THE STORM
Carrick Gale didn’t sleep anymore.He sat in the estate’s underground war room, the dim light of the overhead bulbs casting jagged shadows across his face. The map table before him was marked with fresh ink...blue for neutral territories, black for allies, and red for enemies. The red bled across the city like an open wound.Victor stood near the door, arms folded, watching him. “You haven’t said a word in hours.”Carrick’s fingers traced a circle around a warehouse in the South District. “She’s baiting us.”Victor stepped closer. “You think Alessia wants us to strike?”“She wants me to overreach. She’s picked at the edges...cut off our money, turned the Kovac crew against us. That was precise. Surgical.” He looked up, eyes bloodshot but burning. “She’s not lashing out. She’s hunting.”Victor let out a slow breath. “So what do we do?”Carrick pushed the map aside. “We stop reacting. Start moving like predators, not prey.”Footsteps echoed down the corridor, and Marco entered, face pal
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CHAPTER 151: TERMS OF WAR
The morning after the ambush, the city felt like a carcass picked clean by vultures. Smoke clung to the skyline, and the streets buzzed with a violence that no longer tried to hide itself. In the ruined conference room of what once was the Montrose Hotel, Carrick Gale leaned over a scarred table, maps and dossiers spread out like a battlefield. Marco arrived late, limping slightly, Victor and Silas flanking him like angry hounds. The air between the two leaders crackled. "You called for this meeting," Marco said, voice like gravel. "You better have something worth my time, Carrick." Carrick didn't look up right away. He tapped a folder at the center of the table. "Lucien," Carrick said. "And his pet ghost, Delilah Blackthorn. They're not just gunning for you anymore." Marco snorted, stepping closer. "No shit." Carrick finally met his gaze. His eyes were sharp, glacial. "They're coming for all of us." Silence stretched. Victor shifted, resting his hand on the butt of his p
CHAPTER 150 BLOOD IN THE STREETS
The first firebomb hit just after midnight.Carrick Gale stood on the balcony of the north wing of his estate, cigarette dangling from his lips, when the sky bloomed into angry red in the distance.Another explosion rumbled seconds later, closer this time.He ground the cigarette under his boot and turned on his heel, face hardening.Marco’s war had just escalated ... and it was bleeding into Carrick’s world.A knock rattled the door."Come," Carrick barked.Logan stepped in, breathless. His shirt was stained with soot and blood, his left sleeve shredded."They hit the Yarrow warehouse," Logan said. "Took out two guards. Set the whole place ablaze."Carrick’s eyes narrowed."And the DeSantis armory?"Logan hesitated."Gone," he said quietly. "Blew it sky-high twenty minutes ago. They're targeting every asset we have in the west sector."Carrick paced the room, the polished wood floors creaking under his boots."Marco’s desperation stinks like a dying dog," he muttered. "But this... th
CHAPTER 149: SMOKE AND MIRRORS
The smoke hadn’t even cleared from the ambush site when Marco slammed his fist onto the table back at the safehouse."Goddamn it!" he roared, sending a stack of blueprints flying.Victor stood nearby, a fresh gash bleeding across his brow, jaw set tight with anger.Silas limped in, clutching his side. "It was a setup," he rasped. "He knew every move we made."Marco’s face was carved from stone."He’s inside our circle," he said. "Somebody’s talking."Victor cursed low. "I’ll start running checks. Every man, every comm line.""No," Marco said, voice colder than steel. "I'll do it myself."He turned to Silas."Get patched up. You're no good to me bleeding out."Silas opened his mouth, thought better of it, and nodded, leaving the room.Only Victor stayed."You really think one of ours flipped?"Marco didn't answer right away. He poured himself a glass of whiskey, hands steady even though his gut boiled."Not just flipped," he said finally. "They sold their soul."Victor’s mouth tightene
CHAPTER 148: BLOOD IN THE SHADOWS
The first sign that something was wrong came with the silence.The war room was usually a hive ... phones ringing, men shouting, maps shifting. But tonight, there was nothing. Just an eerie, unnatural stillness.Marco paced the edge of the table, feeling the weight of it press down on his chest."Where’s Jax?" he snapped, glancing at Victor.Victor, frowning, checked his watch. "He should’ve reported in an hour ago."Silas lit a cigarette with trembling fingers. "Maybe he ran into heat. Cops, Carrick’s leftovers..."Marco shook his head. "Jax doesn’t miss check-ins. Not unless he’s dead."The word hung heavy in the air.A phone rang ... sharp and shrill.Everyone jolted.Victor grabbed it."Yeah?" His face paled almost instantly. "Boss... you need to hear this."Marco snatched the phone from him."Marco," a voice rasped. Jax’s voice ... barely recognizable, slurred and broken."It’s... a trap... he knew... he knew we were coming..."Gunshots crackled in the background. Screaming. Then
CHAPTER 147: FIRST STRIKE
Marco didn’t sleep that night.He sat in the war room ... a makeshift headquarters carved out of an abandoned speakeasy beneath the old theatre ... staring at the maps spread across the table. Each red pin marked a loyalty, each black pin a threat. And there were more black pins now than ever before.Victor entered, a mug of coffee in one hand, a pistol tucked into the back of his belt."You should rest," Victor said, setting the coffee down. "You look like hell."Marco didn’t move. "Carrick didn’t threaten me," he said, voice low. "He challenged me."Victor pulled a chair around and dropped into it, studying Marco."There's a difference?""Yeah," Marco said grimly. "One's a warning. The other’s a death sentence."Victor nodded slowly. "So what’s the play?"Marco leaned back, eyes burning. "We strike first."Victor's eyebrows lifted. "Now you’re speaking my language."But Marco wasn’t smiling."No messy fireworks. No grandstanding," he said. "We cut out Carrick’s heart while it’s stil
CHAPTER 146: SMOKE BEFORE THE FIRE
The night air was thick with mist and the sour stench of gasoline.Carrick Gale stood atop the rooftop of an abandoned textile mill, his coat whipping in the wind, a cigarette burning low between his fingers.Below him, the city lights flickered like dying embers."You were right," muttered Donovan, stepping up beside him. His breath steamed in the cold. "Marco’s moving against you."Carrick didn’t flinch. He didn’t even look at him."I know."Donovan hesitated. "It’s not just Marco. Salvatore met with him tonight. They're rallying others. Quiet-like, but... it's happening."Carrick took a slow drag from his cigarette, the tip flaring."So the rats finally show their teeth," he said softly.Donovan shifted uneasily. "What do you want to do?"Carrick turned, finally facing him. His eyes were pale blue and cold as glacial ice."Set a meet," Carrick said. "Invite Marco. Make it seem like I want to talk peace."Donovan frowned. "You think he’ll buy it?"Carrick smiled ... a thin, dead thi
CHAPTER 145: A KINGDOM OF ASH
The warehouse stank of oil, dust, and desperation.A single bare bulb swung from the ceiling, casting long, jittering shadows over the gathered men. Marco stood near the center, his fists shoved deep into the pockets of his coat, while Silas leaned casually against a rusted support beam, arms folded, eyes glittering like a serpent waiting for its moment to strike."So what’s the play?" Marco asked, his voice low.Silas smiled ... that same unsettling, knowing smile. "Simple. We bleed Carrick dry from the inside. Cut his supply lines. Peel away his allies one by one."Marco’s jaw tightened. "You make it sound easy."Silas shrugged lazily. "It's not easy. It's inevitable. Carrick's empire is rotting. All we have to do is give it a little... push.""Push too hard," Marco muttered, "and he'll lash out."Silas stepped closer, voice dropping. "That's the idea. Let him lash out. Let him make mistakes. Then we move in for the kill."Marco stared at him, heart pounding in his chest. The though
CHAPTER 144: A SERPENT AMONG WOLVES
The city was breaking apart at its seams, a rotting corpse wearing a golden crown.Marco walked through the crumbling alleys of the south side, the rain soaking through his jacket. He didn’t care. The world could drown for all it mattered.Carrick was slipping. And Marco ... once Carrick's sword arm, once his shield ... felt it deep in his bones: the time to choose sides had come.He wasn’t sure if he could betray the man who had once saved him.But as the blood pooled deeper around Carrick's throne, loyalty began to feel more like a noose.A sharp whistle echoed down the alley.Marco turned instantly, hand going to the gun beneath his jacket.Out of the shadows stepped a man ... tall, wiry, with an unsettling stillness to him. His long black coat clung to him like a second skin. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but his eyes were dead."You must be Marco," the stranger said smoothly, voice like silk pulled across a blade."Depends who's asking," Marco replied, voice t
CHAPTER 143: KNIVES BENEATH SMILES
The storm rolled in over the city as dusk fell, shrouding the skyline in grim clouds. Thunder grumbled low in the distance, a warning growl before the lightning’s inevitable strike.Inside the upper floors of the old Salvi manor, Arturo stood at the head of a long table. Around him were faces ... some familiar, some recently turned ... all carrying the same grim set to their jaws. They were the last of the De Luca loyalists, the bitter remnants of broken families, and the wolves who had long waited for Carrick Gale to falter.Alessia De Luca sat to Arturo’s right, her hands neatly folded, a mask of calm that barely concealed the rage boiling underneath."Carrick’s bleeding," Arturo said, voice low but carrying. "The shipment hit hurt him worse than he’s letting on. His allies are whispering. Some are jumping ship."A younger man, Gaetano, leaned forward, his knuckles white against the table. "Then we press now. While he's weak. Burn the rest of his operations to the ground!"Arturo sh
