Chapter 10 - THE LAST QUEEN
Clara stood on the rooftop of the Drake Hotel.
Chicago glittered below her.
She had returned to the place where everything began.
Elena stood beside her.
“Are you ready?”
“No.”
Elena smiled.
“Good.”
Clara looked at the city.
“Where is Matteo?”
“On his way.”
“And Luca?”
“Already here.”
Clara turned.
A man stepped from the shadows.
Luca Falcone.
He looked enough like Matteo to make her heart stop.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
Different soul.
“You really look like him,” Luca said.
Clara raised her gun.
“You kidnapped me.”
“No.”
“You threatened me.”
“No.”
“You destroyed my marriage.”
Luca smiled.
“Your husband did that himself.”
Clara's eyes hardened.
“What do you want?”
“The empire.”
“You could have taken it.”
“Not while Matteo lived.”
“So you're going to kill him.”
“I don't want to kill my brother.”
“You tried to.”
“I wanted him to choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Power or you.”
Clara's expression changed.
Luca stepped closer.
“He chose power.”
“No.”
“He left you in the rain.”
“He made a mistake.”
“He made a choice.”
Clara lowered her gun slightly.
“You don't know him.”
“I know exactly who he is.”
Footsteps sounded behind them.
Matteo appeared.
His gun was raised.
“Luca.”
Luca smiled.
“Brother.”
Matteo looked at Clara.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Relief flashed across his face.
Then Victor stepped from the stairwell.
“Enough.”
Every weapon turned.
Victor smiled.
“You've all made this so easy.”
Matteo stared at him.
“This ends tonight.”
Victor laughed.
“No, Matteo.”
He pointed toward the city.
“This is where your empire begins.”
He pressed a button.
Across Chicago, explosions erupted.
One.
Two.
Three.
Car alarms screamed.
Smoke rose into the night.
Clara looked horrified.
“What did you do?”
Victor smiled.
“I reminded the city who owns it.”
Matteo looked at Clara.
Then Luca.
Then his father.
And finally the burning skyline.
He slowly lowered his gun.
Victor smiled.
But Matteo wasn't surrendering.
He was calculating.
Clara understood first.
She stepped beside him.
Luca moved to the other side.
For the first time in decades, three members of the Falcone family stood together.
Victor's smile disappeared.
“What are you doing?”
Matteo looked directly at him.
“Taking back our name.”
Gunfire erupted.
Frank and Elena appeared from the stairwell with armed men.
Victor's guards scattered.
Clara ducked behind a concrete barrier.
Luca tackled one attacker.
Matteo advanced toward his father.
The two men stood face-to-face.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” Matteo said.
Victor raised his weapon.
“I never believed you had the courage.”
Matteo stared at him.
“You were wrong.”
Victor fired.
Matteo moved.
The bullet struck the railing.
Frank fired once.
Victor fell.
Silence.
Clara stepped toward Matteo.
He turned.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she reached for his hand.
Matteo looked down at their joined fingers.
“I don't deserve you.”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“But I'm willing to spend the rest of my life proving I can.”
Clara looked at him.
“Then start by leaving this life.”
Matteo glanced at the burning city.
He knew what that meant.
Everything he had built.
Everything his father had built.
Everything that had poisoned their marriage.
He could walk away.
Or become the man his father wanted him to be.
Matteo took Clara's hand.
“I choose you.”
Behind them, sirens screamed.
Luca watched quietly.
Elena approached.
“It's over.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She stared toward the Chicago skyline.
“It's just beginning.”
Matteo frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Clara reached into her coat and pulled out the black ledger.
“There was another page.”
Matteo's face changed.
“What page?”
She opened it.
At the bottom was a list of names.
The last name was not Falcone.
It belonged to someone neither Matteo nor Luca recognized.
Underneath it were five words:
THE MAN WHO OWNS CHICAGO.
Matteo looked at Clara.
“Who is that?”
Before she could answer, her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice whispered,
“Congratulations, Mrs. Falcone.”
Clara froze.
The caller continued.
“You survived the Falcone family.”
A pause.
“Now let's see if you survive me.”
The call ended.
Clara slowly lowered the phone.
Matteo looked at her.
“Who was it?”
She stared across Chicago.
“I don't know.”
Then every light on the rooftop suddenly went out.
And somewhere in the darkness—
someone began clapping.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The mafia queen had returned.
May you like
But this time, she wasn't running.
She was coming for the man who had been controlling Chicago from the shadows.
