Chapter 10
Rocco looked at the twelve silver wolf pins laid across the stone table.
Identical.
Freshly made.
Sebastian’s arrogance returned completely.
“You figured out costumes.”
He clapped once.
Slowly.
“Impressive.”
Vincent stared at him.
“You planned to frame Serrano.”
Sebastian shrugged.
“They've been circling our routes for years.”
“So you start a war.”
“I redirect one.”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“You were going to kill me with my own men and blame Serrano.”
Sebastian looked toward her.
“Maybe.”
Her face hardened.
“Maybe?”
His smile sharpened.
“You always wanted to matter.”
“There.”
“If you died at your wedding, everyone would talk about you for years.”
The cruelty stunned even Genevieve? Not in this story. Donna inhaled.
Celeste’s eyes filled with rage.
Not tears.
Rocco watched.
Sebastian had been arrogant all night.
Now he was almost enjoying the exposure.
Because he still believed they had not found the deepest layer.
Rocco noticed.
“You're not worried.”
Sebastian looked at him.
“Should I be?”
“Twelve men are contained.”
“So?”
“The tunnel is exposed.”
“So?”
“Celeste knows you used her.”
Sebastian smiled.
“She’ll recover.”
Celeste’s jaw tightened.
Rocco stepped closer.
“You wanted more than docks.”
Sebastian’s eyes sharpened.
Finally.
There.
Rocco saw it.
“What?”
Sebastian said nothing.
Rocco looked toward the old underground council chair.
Salvatore’s chair.
Then the wolf pins.
Then Celeste.
Then Donna’s shoes.
The clues had all pointed toward a coup during the wedding.
Too neatly.
Sebastian had prepared layers of blame.
Celeste.
Serrano.
Hale gunmen.
Why?
Not merely to take territory.
To survive after something larger.
Rocco turned toward Vincent.
“Where would the guests be when the first shot happened?”
“In the chapel.”
“The capos?”
“Front rows.”
“Donna?”
Vincent looked at her.
“Family row.”
Rocco’s eyes narrowed.
“And me?”
“At the altar.”
Sebastian smiled faintly.
Rocco continued.
“All leadership in one room.”
No one spoke.
Then Donna whispered:
“The bell.”
Rocco looked at her.
She stared toward the ceiling.
“One bell called guards.”
“Three called everyone.”
Vincent’s face changed.
Rocco understood.
Sebastian did not intend twelve disguised men merely to kill Celeste.
He intended the bell to draw every armed Bellacorte guard toward the chapel.
Then chaos would erupt inside the most crowded leadership gathering in years.
Rocco looked at him.
“Who stays outside?”
Sebastian’s smile weakened.
There.
Rocco turned toward Matteo.
“Which crews were assigned perimeter security for the wedding?”
Matteo answered.
“Hale.”
Vincent swore.
Celeste slowly turned toward her brother.
The major twist snapped into place.
Sebastian’s men outside the chapel were not there to support the marriage.
They were there to become the only organized force left after the massacre.
The underground men wore Serrano pins.
They would open fire.
Bellacorte guards would answer.
Hale perimeter crews would seal exits under the excuse of protection.
Rocco, Celeste, Donna, senior capos, and rival guests would all be trapped inside.
If Rocco survived, Sebastian could blame Serrano.
If Rocco died, Sebastian’s crews would already control the estate.
If Celeste survived, she would become a grieving fiancée dependent on her brother.
If she died—
she became part of the story that justified everything.
Celeste stared at him.
“You were going to kill all of us.”
Sebastian’s mouth curved.
“Not all.”
Rocco’s eyes hardened.
“Who was supposed to survive?”
Sebastian looked at him.
Then slowly toward Donna.
The old woman stiffened.
Sebastian smiled.
“Her.”
Everyone froze.
Donna whispered:
“Me?”
Sebastian nodded.
“You were useful.”
Celeste stared.
“What are you talking about?”
Sebastian leaned back against the table.
“An elderly mother surviving a Serrano massacre.”
His smile sharpened.
“Crying in front of the remaining crews.”
“Begging for unity.”
“Supporting the only Hale man who saved her.”
Rocco’s face became cold.
Sebastian had planned to rescue Donna publicly after arranging the attack.
The very woman his sister had humiliated would become the witness who legitimized his takeover.
Donna looked sick.
Sebastian continued.
“I'd carry you out myself.”
He smiled.
“People love old mothers.”
Rocco’s hands curled.
Sebastian saw it.
“Go on.”
His eyes gleamed.
“Hit me.”
“Prove you're still exactly the man I planned around.”
Rocco opened his hands.
No blow came.
Sebastian’s smile disappeared.
May you like
His greatest weapon had been Rocco’s predictability.
And Rocco had finally stopped giving it to him.
