The Mafia Boss Exploded With Rage When He Found His Secretary Freezing in the Snow on Réveillon Night—Then He Learned Why

The first explosion shattered the courthouse windows.

Dust rained from the ceiling. Victor stumbled, his gun slipping from his hand, while Adrian threw himself toward Michael.

Elias grabbed Maya and pulled her behind the stone bench.

"Get them out!" he shouted.

Marco appeared through the side entrance with two men.

"This way!"

Maya refused to leave Michael.

"He can't walk!"

Adrian cut the restraints from his brother's wrists and lifted him.

"Then we carry him."

For the first time, the three brothers moved as one family.

Antonio watched them with something like disgust.

"Look at you. All this power, and you still choose weakness."

Elias turned.

"No. We choose each other."

Antonio raised the remote.

Victor lunged for him.

A gunshot echoed through the courtroom. Victor fell, clutching his side, and the remote skidded across the floor.

Elias kicked it away.

Antonio tried to reach it, but Adrian blocked him.

"You promised me the family," Adrian said. "You promised me I wouldn't spend my life being invisible."

Antonio sneered.

"You were useful. That's all."

Adrian's face crumpled.

For a moment, Elias thought his brother might shoot their father.

Instead, Adrian stepped aside.

"Go," he said. "I won't become you."

Antonio bolted toward the rear corridor.

Elias followed him through the smoke.

They reached the courthouse steps just as police sirens filled the street. Antonio stumbled, dropped his cane, and turned with a small pistol in his hand.

"You could have ruled everything," he said. "The city. The family. The future."

Elias aimed at him.

"I don't want a future built on your crimes."

Antonio fired.

The bullet struck Elias in the shoulder, spinning him against the stone railing. Maya screamed from the doorway.

Elias returned fire, striking Antonio in the leg.

The old man fell.

Police officers rushed forward, weapons raised. They surrounded Antonio, confiscated the pistol, and dragged him away in handcuffs.

For the first time in decades, Antonio Conti was no longer untouchable.

Elias sank onto the steps.

Maya knelt beside him, pressing both hands against his shoulder.

"Stay with me."

He managed a weak smile.

"You keep saying that."

"Because you keep giving me reasons to."

He laughed, then winced.

An ambulance arrived. Michael was rushed into surgery, and Adrian surrendered the documents proving his role in the conspiracy. Victor, wounded but alive, was taken into custody.

As the paramedics lifted Elias onto a stretcher, he caught Maya's hand.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"For what?"

"For making you feel invisible."

Maya's eyes filled with tears.

"You can't fix the past in one night."

"I know."

He held her hand more tightly.

"But I want to spend the rest of my life trying."

She leaned down and pressed her forehead against his.

For the first time, neither of them was running.

But as the ambulance doors closed, a detective approached Marco with a sealed evidence bag.