2025-10-18 22:26:23
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Chapter Twenty-Four — The Devil’s Bargain
“Your hands are still shaking.”Sofia’s voice cut through the sound of rain hitting the safe house windows. Matteo sat hunched over the table, blood drying along his knuckles, the medallion from his father gleaming beside an untouched glass of whiskey.He didn’t look up. “It’s just the storm.”“It’s not the storm,” she said. “It’s the fire still burning in you.”Matteo gave a small, humorless smile. “Then maybe it’s keeping me alive.”Sofia crossed her arms, studying him. “No. It’s what’s killing you.”Matteo finally looked at her. His eyes were distant, colder than the rain outside. “You still think there’s something left to save.”“There is,” she whispered. “But you keep setting it on fire.”Before he could answer, Enzo stepped into the room, wet from the downpour. “You both need to see this.”He dropped a newspaper on the table. The headline screamed across the page:“LUCA ROSSI — THE SAVIOR OF NAPLES.”Matteo stared at it in silence. The photo showed Luca standing in front of a cr
Chapter Twenty-Three — The Fire and the Faith
“You burned a church,” Enzo said.“I burned a lie,” Matteo replied.Rain pounded the roof of the warehouse where they hid. Smoke from the ruined sanctuary still drifted through the night like a ghost refusing burial. Matteo sat at the edge of a wooden table, shirt torn, hands blackened with soot.“You think the Vatican will let this go?” Enzo pressed.Matteo looked up slowly. “They can pray about it.”Sofia slammed a file onto the table. “You think this is a joke? Half the city saw the flames. They’re calling you the Devil of Naples now.”Matteo lit a cigarette, ignoring the tremor in his hand. “Good. Every city needs its devil.”Enzo frowned. “The Redeemers are dead, Matteo. You wiped them out yourself.”“Then I’ll build new ones,” Matteo said. “Ones who don’t ask for forgiveness.”Sofia stepped closer. “And who’ll follow you this time?”“Those who’ve already lost everything.”Her voice softened. “That includes you.”He met her eyes. “Exactly.”By dawn, the news spread — Holy war eru
Chapter Twenty-Two — The Devil’s Gospel
“Get up, Matteo.”The voice cut through the ringing in his ears like a blade. Matteo blinked against the smoke and dust. His head throbbed, the floor beneath him slick with blood and ash. Through the haze, Luca’s silhouette loomed calm, confident, the same face he’d seen in mirrors and nightmares.Matteo pushed himself up slowly. “You finally decided to stop hiding behind ghosts.”Luca smiled faintly. “I learned from the best.”He walked closer, the fire behind him casting a hellish glow across his face. “You know what I realized while you were burning this city down? You never wanted to save it. You just wanted to own it.”Matteo wiped blood from his mouth. “Ownership and salvation are the same thing here.”“Not anymore,” Luca said. “The people see me now. They hear my voice when the church bells ring. I’m the resurrection you failed to become.”Matteo’s tone was calm, but his hand twitched toward the gun hidden in his coat. “And what do you preach in your new gospel?”Luca’s grin wi
Chapter Twenty-One — The Last Benediction
“Do you believe in redemption, Matteo?”The question hung in the air like incense. The man asking it wore black — the kind of black that didn’t fade, even in sunlight. His voice was smooth, confident, and dangerous. Monsignor Valente’s silver cross glimmered under the light of the old cathedral.Matteo leaned back in the wooden chair, cigarette smoke curling lazily between them. “Redemption,” he said quietly. “That’s just another man’s word for control.”Valente smiled faintly. “You mistake control for order.”“And you mistake blood for purity.”The Monsignor clasped his hands, unbothered by the venom in Matteo’s tone. “Naples burns again. Its leaders vanish. Its people lose faith. You have influence, Rossi. Fear. Discipline. The kind of power that moves sinners faster than prayer.”Matteo chuckled softly. “So you want me to preach?”“I want you to help me keep peace,” Valente said. “The Church will offer you protection. In return, you keep the streets quiet.”“And if I refuse?”“Then
Chapter Twenty — Kingdom of Dust
“Tell me the truth, Matteo. Did you really think this would make you whole again?”Sofia’s voice broke through the hum of the rain outside. She sat across from him in the dimly lit chapel, her coat still wet, her eyes tired. Matteo didn’t answer right away. His hand rested on the edge of the pew, the cigarette between his fingers burning to ash.He finally said, “Wholeness is a myth, Sofia. You don’t rebuild what’s already been ground into dust.”“You’re still bleeding,” she whispered.“I’ve been bleeding since Naples fell.”He stood, walked toward the broken window. The glass caught the candlelight, fractured it into shards across the floor. “You ever wonder,” he asked quietly, “how many times God turned His back on this city before I did?”Sofia didn’t move. “You sound like a man trying to convince himself he’s not already lost.”Matteo turned, eyes cold but weary. “Maybe being lost is the only honest thing left.”The city below them was still smoking from the last war. Naples was q
Chapter Nineteen — Wolves at the Gate
“You killed your brother.”Enzo’s voice broke the silence, rough as gravel. He didn’t say it like an accusation. He said it like a fact.Matteo didn’t answer. He sat in the backseat of the black sedan, eyes locked on the rain-streaked window. Outside, Palermo was burning behind them — smoke rising, sirens wailing.“I didn’t kill my brother,” Matteo said finally. His voice was flat. “I killed what he became.”Enzo gripped the wheel tighter. “The city’s already whispering that the Ghost of Naples has lost his soul.”“Then they’re late,” Matteo muttered.The car cut through the storm, tires splashing through flooded streets. Every few seconds, lightning flashed over the ruins of warehouses and churches. The rain couldn’t wash the blood away.When they reached the outskirts of Naples, the air grew heavy. The people didn’t look up when the convoy passed. They knew better.Sofia waited at the safe house. The moment Matteo walked in, she slapped him across the face.“You were supposed to end
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