Chapter 10 - Midnight at the Rostova Compound
The assault on the New Jersey compound took place at 3:00 AM under a freezing
November drizzle.
Valentin didn't use subtle infiltration tactics.
Two armored assault trucks smashed through the ten-foot concrete gates of the
estate, clearing the perimeter in a single, devastating breach.
Eighty elite Sokolov operators, backed by tactical units from the allied Italian
families, swarmed the grounds.
The Serbian mercenaries Rostov had hired lasted less than twenty minutes.
Outnumbered, outgunned, and facing the unified wrath of the five boroughs, the
guards surrendered their weapons and fled into the pine forest.
Valentin walked through the shattered front doors of the mansion, his assault
rifle lowered, his eyes scanning the grand marble foyer.
Boris Rostov was on his knees in the center of the room, clutching an empty
revolver, weeping in pathetic, broken terror.
“Valentin... please... my brother was your father’s partner!” Boris wept,
clawing at the carpet. “Mercy! I beg you for mercy!”
Valentin stopped two paces away.
He looked down at the man who had murdered his wife, who had kidnapped his
four-year-old daughter, who had terrified his son.
“You had no mercy for Nadia when you wired that car, Boris,” Valentin said, his
voice quiet, devoid of all anger, colder than the winter rain outside. “You had
no mercy for Vera when you locked her in that steel cage on the cargo ship.”
Valentin drew his custom Sig Sauer from his holster.
He didn't hesitate. He didn't monologue.
Crack.
A single shot echoed through the cavernous foyer.
Boris Rostov collapsed forward onto the Persian rug, his eyes staring blankly at
the floorboards.
The war of two years was finished.
The House of Rostov was erased from the earth.
Valentin lowered his weapon, turned around, and walked out into the cool night
air.
Waiting beside the command SUV in the driveway, wrapped in his heavy shearling
coat, was me.
Valentin walked up to me, stopped inches away, and looked deeply into my eyes.
The exhaustion, the darkness, the blood—all of it seemed to wash away beneath
the rain, leaving only the man who loved his children, the man who had found his
soul again.
He reached out, taking both of my hands into his large, warm palms.
May you like
“It’s finished, Leah,” Valentin whispered, his voice trembling with an emotion
that no syndicate boss had ever seen from him. “Let’s go home to our children.”
