POV: Matteo DeLucaLocation: LUNA Operations Center, Milan – 9:15 AM
The control room fell silent after Salvatore's departure. Matteo stood before the screen, watching Ariella's face flicker into view. His hand clenched at his side.
"Enzo…" he repeated the name in his mind.
The man had vanished from the mafia world years ago. But Salvatore knew—no one ever truly escaped this family.
Without delay, Matteo descended to the secure communications chamber on the lower floor. The thick iron door sealed shut behind him.
Inside, there was only one satellite phone—connected directly to the ghost network of the underworld.
He dialed a number saved long ago.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
A deep, gravelly voice finally answered.
"Who the hell wakes me up this early?"
Matteo smirked. "I missed your voice, Enzo."
Silence hung heavy over the line.
"I thought you were dead, Matteo."
"I would've been. But then who else could drag you back out of your grave?"
Enzo chuckled coldly, like an old ghost resurfacing.
"If Salvatore's pulling strings, I know this isn't a small favor. What do you want?"
Matteo stared at the steel wall before him. "Kael. Ariella. Giuliano. And Project LUNA."
A soft sigh escaped the receiver.
"Project LUNA... it's been a long time since I heard that name."
"You can't run from it this time, Enzo. You made a promise."
"I left the DeLuca table a long time ago."
"No one really leaves," Matteo replied, voice low and firm.
Another chuckle. Sharper this time.
"What does Salvatore want?"
"Total purge," Matteo said. "No survivors. Even blood doesn't get a pass."
There was the sound of a glass being lifted.
"I won't ask the price this time," Enzo said. "But I want one thing."
"What?"
"Salvatore pays me personally. No middlemen."
"You haven't changed," Matteo muttered.
"Greedy, yes," Enzo said without shame. "But not stupid."
"I'll pass it on. But if you refuse—"
"You already know what'll happen."
The call ended.
Matteo leaned against the chair, staring at the wall."This game's getting filthier," he muttered.
He rose slowly, his steps heavy. He approached a steel cabinet embedded in the wall and opened it with his fingerprint.
Inside were dusty files—records of DeLuca operations dating back to Salvatore's youth. Matteo flipped through them, as if tracing a history stained with blood.
His fingers paused on a yellowing folder: "Operation Fenrir."
It listed names long buried: Enzo, Kael... and one more that had been erased from mafia records.
"So they were all tied together from the beginning," he whispered, a bitter smirk on his lips.
He returned the folder and straightened up.
Outside, Milan's sky darkened—as if foreshadowing the storm awaiting the DeLuca family.
POV: Ariella DeLucaLocation: Kael's Safehouse, Siena – 10:03 AM
Ariella sat by the narrow window overlooking the forest behind the safehouse.
She still held the old file on Project LUNA.
Every page she turned peeled back memories she had tried to bury.
Kael entered, carrying two cups of coffee.
"Didn't sleep?" he asked, placing a cup before her.
Ariella nodded slightly.
"The more I read, the more I realize… we're all just pawns in my father's game."
Kael sat opposite, watching her tired face.
"Your father didn't just play the game, Ella. He built it."
She gripped the file tightly.
"Giuliano… why him?" her voice trembled.
Kael sighed, eyes darkening.
"Because Giuliano was too valuable. He was Salvatore's perfect heir—before they turned him into a machine."
"You know more than you're telling me," she said, staring.
Kael didn't reply.
"Tell me everything," Ariella said, her voice firm. "No more half-truths."
Kael exhaled, surrendering.
"Project LUNA wasn't just a weapon or control program," he said. "It was a project Salvatore started over two decades ago. To create humans incapable of defying orders. No empathy. No mercy. The perfect product for a dark world."
Ariella waited, silent.
"Giuliano was the first successful prototype," Kael continued. "And I… I was their first failure."
Her eyes widened.
"Yes, Ella," Kael admitted, his gaze soft. "I was once part of Project LUNA. But I escaped before they completed the process."
Ariella covered her mouth in shock.
"That's how I know what they did to him. And why they won't stop until they have you."
Tears welled in her eyes.
"Everything's just… manipulation…"
Kael reached for her shoulder.
"But we still have a choice, Ella," he whispered.
"A choice to fight."
She met his eyes, glassy but fierce.
"If I step forward, there's no going back."
"I know," Kael said quietly. "And I'll walk with you to the end."
Their gaze locked in the stillness of the morning. Two souls finally realizing they could no longer run.
Outside, shadows were moving.
Not far from the safehouse, in the pine woods cloaked by fog, a team of armed men advanced like phantoms. Their footsteps silent, precise.
Leading them was a man in full tactical gear, half his face obscured by a dark mask. His eyes were sharp, scanning the area like a hunter.
"Targets confirmed inside," a subordinate whispered through the comms.
The masked man nodded. He lifted a hand—halt.
From his jacket, he pulled a compact thermal scanner. The display lit up—two heat signatures inside the house.
"Ariella and Kael," he murmured.
He watched. He waited.
Inside the safehouse, Kael and Ariella still faced each other.
Something shifted in Kael's instincts.
He glanced toward the window, eyes narrowing.
"There's something out there," he whispered.
And in the next breath, their world would begin to burn.