BLACKSTONE CAPITAL BANK, LAS VEGAS, U.S.
(VALENTINO'S POV)
The second we burst through the glass doors of Blackstone Capital, I shout at the top of my voice.
"EVERYONE ON THE FUCKING GROUND!!!"
I fire bullets up at the ceiling, sending the entire lobby into panic. Employees and customers scream, diving flat on the marble floor.
My soldiers flood into the bank in all black, raising their guns on high alert. They spread throughout the lobby, cornering security guards, pinning them down and disarming them.
"PUT YOUR PHONES ON THE GROUND AND YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!" Bruno roars. "DO IT NOW OR I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL START DROPPING BODIES!"
He fires a round of bullets into the ceiling, earning screams and cries, just to let them know he's not bluffing.
No one moves if they want to live for another second.
But there's always one.
A bank teller trembles as she reaches behind the counter. Her fingers find the red alarm button and the moment I lock eyes with her, she freezes.
"No!" I shout, but she presses the button before I put a bullet through her skull and she crumples against the counter, her blood spreading like a stain on white marble.
Screams filled the air. Customers crawl on the floor, sobbing.
"Alarm's been triggered," Sandra yells, walking over to me with a tablet in her hand. "Security forces are en route. We've got like five minutes, tops, before this place turns into a war zone."
"Everyone get moving!" I bark. "Split up and stick to the plan!"
Bruno jerks down the hallway, prints in hand, his team heavy on his heels with duffels slung over their shoulders. Michele and Sandra split off the other way, guns up, a squad of over a dozen soldiers trailing behind them.
Leo and I take the west corridor to the cash reserves with our own division, leaving the rest to hold down the fort in the lobby.
My heart beats hard in my chest as we make our way down the hall.
We hit the cash room and it's a rush—employees shoved to the side, pinned up against the wall with guns held to their backs, daring them to make a stupid move.
We get to work fast, shoving bills into the duffel bags.
Then I hear Sandra's voice again, through my earpiece, "West corridor secure. Data wing breach in progress. We've got two minutes and thirty seconds before the heavy units show up."
Two minutes and thirty seconds. My pulse spikes.
I glance at Leo and he's already looking at me. He gives me a nod and starts to bark orders.
"Faster! We don't have time to waste!"
(ALESSANDRA'S POV)
My team and I sprint down the hallway. The corridor narrows and the security checkpoints come fast. Two guards at the data wing door.
Immediately they see us, they aim their weapons but Michele and two other men gun them down without hesitation.
I slip into the first guard's pocket and pull out the key card.
"Two minutes, thirty seconds," I say, swearing I can feel time evaporate. Michele barks orders and our men take their positions at the door.
I kneel by the console like I've done this a thousand times. I get out the three laptops from my bags and set them down gently. Once I hook them up to the bank's main system, my screen fills with lines and numbers, layers of firewalls meant to keep intruders locked out.
I smirk to myself. "This is gonna be a piece of cake."
I mute the broadcast from the lobby and tap my comms. "Valentino, I'm in the mainframe. Starting the hack now."
There's a tiny hiss on the line. "Copy"
I immediately swing into action, checking for blindspots in their system's security. I ride those blindspots. I slip past the obvious traps, dance through the shadows of their architecture.
And… I'm in!
I quickly plug in my flash drive then drag folders of ledgers, lists of clients, account details and transaction records, onto it.
The progress creeps up in little victories. 1%... 3%... 5%...
I move on to the next laptop and start pulling up offshore accounts tied to business corporations that don't exist.
I open one, then another, then begin transferring the funds out of them. Wire by wire, I grinned as I bled the criminally elite dry.
(BRUNO'S POV)
I slam the blueprint against the wall, scanning the final stretch of the corridor.
"Vault's twenty feet ahead." I point to two of the soldiers. "You two, get the charges ready."
The men spring into action, yanking military-grade explosives out of one of the bags. They kneel at the vault's steel door, their hands working fast, attaching the charges with precision.
"Take cover!" I bark.
We scatter. I dive behind a wall, press my back flat against it, forearm raised to cover my face. Then a second later—
BOOM.
The explosion rocks the corridor, smoke and dust filling the air. Some of the men cough, choking on the haze, but I push forward through it, my eyes stinging.
The vault has been ripped wide open. As I step into it, my eyes widen and my jaw hangs open.
"Dio Santo…" I whisper.
Just like Sandra said, there's gold, but it's more than I ever imagined. The bars stacked so high they form walls, glittering under the emergency lights. For a second, I almost forget we're on the clock.
I snap myself out of it, whip my head around. "What the fuck are you standing there for? MOVE!" I bark.
Duffel bags hit the floor all around me. The soldiers start shoving bars into them, grunting under the weight.
"Faster! We're running out of time!"
The men pick up their pace, sweat dripping down their temples as they worked as fast as they could.
Then I hear the sound of heavy bootsteps, marching toward us. I turn to see a whole squad of armed men, charging down the corridor.
"Contact!" one of my men yells.
The reinforcements storm into view, their rifles raised, riot shields braced.
"DOWN!" I bark. Bullets shred through the air. My men dive behind the piles of gold, returning fire. I slam myself flat behind a stack, chamber another round, then start picking them off one by one.
My comms crackle and Val's voice floods my ear. "Bruno, status report!"
A soldier next to me drops, blood spraying across my arm. His body hits the ground with a sick thud.
I grit my teeth, raise my rifle, and put two rounds clean through a guard's helmet. "We're securing the gold, but… we've got company. Reinforcements are here."
"Shit," Val curses. "Can you hold it?"
I smirk, sight another bastard through the haze, and drop him with a single shot. "You know me, boss. I got this."
"Alright," Val says. "We'll be right behind you."
(ALESSANDRA'S POV)
My forehead is slick with sweat as I watch the progress bar crawling across my laptop screen.
62%… 63%… 65%…
"Come on, come on, come on," I mutter, clenching my fists, nerves buzzing through my body like live wires.
Beside me, Michele leans over my tablet, scanning the street cams.
"Sandra?" he says, his voice low and urgent.
"What?!" I snap, sharper than I meant.
"We've got a problem."
He turns the tablet toward me. My stomach drops. The feed shows dozens of police cruisers tearing down the strip, sirens blaring as they close in fast.
"Shit." I curse under my breath.
Michele immediately presses a hand to his earpiece. "Boss, we've got cops incoming. We've got about tree minutes max before they hit us."
Valentino's voice cuts through the comms, tight with urgency. "We'll be done here before then. Bruno—status?"
Bruno's voice growls back, gunfire rattling in the background. "We've secured the gold. We're on the move."
"Copy that," Valentino replies. "Sandra?"
I glance at the laptop again. The progress bar creeps: 74%... 75%... 77%...
"We're not quite done here, Val," I answer, my voice tight, panic bleeding through.
"Well move faster," Val snaps. "My division's moving to the exit now."
My fingers fly across the keyboard, the rapid clacking almost drowning out the gunfire echoing down the hall. I'd already drained several offshore accounts. I patch a mirror path that will obscure the origin of the transfers, wiping clean any digital trails that could be traced back to our accounts.
I glance back at the progress bar.
94%... 95%... 96%...
My chest feels tight, my heart pounding against my ribs.
98%... 99%... 100%.
FILE TRANSFER COMPLETE.
"Yes!" I hiss under my breath. My hands move fast, ejecting the drive, ripping out cords, shoving the laptops and gear into my bag.
"Michele!" I bark, swinging the strap over my shoulder, "we're done. Let's move."
He nods once and signals the men. We fall back, boots pounding against the floor.
I hit the comms as we charge down the corridor. "Val, transfer's complete. The money and data are secured."
(VALENTINO'S POV)
"Good job, Alessandra!" I cheer, grinning despite the chaos. "Now get the fuck out of there and head straight to the exit."
"Already on it, boss," Sandra fires back.
I jog down the corridor with Leo at my side, my soldiers stacked tight behind us, duffel bags heavy with cash slamming against their thighs. My lungs burn with adrenaline.
The exit's close. We're almost there.
But the moment we round the corner, dozens of reinforcements are already blocking our path, guns already raised.
"AMBUSH!" someone screams.
Muzzle flashes blind my vision. The roar of gunfire shakes the walls. One of my men goes down instantly, blood spraying across the tile. Another staggers back clutching his throat.
I dive, Leo shoving me hard against the wall as bullets rip past us. My hand tightens on my rifle.
And right there, staring at the swarm of armed reinforcements blocking our only way out, I know—
This is about to get ugly.