Vincenzo stands, hands slightly raised. His expression is calm, blank, almost bored. Behind him, his bodyguards stand in a tight protective formation, ready to explode into violence if he gives even the smallest signal.
In front of him?
A full tactical army of police.
Helicopters circle above like metal vultures.
Armored vehicles block the gates.
Rifles trained.
Shields locked.
The air so tense it feels like the mansion itself is holding its breath.
But there are no reporters, no news vans, no civilians.
Just a dozen internal police cameras recording every angle—footage that will be released after the arrest is complete.
The world outside has no idea this is happening.
Not yet.
Daniel Kane Steps Forward
Daniel walks toward Vincenzo like a man approaching the devil himself. His face is stone. His hatred is years old, and today he finally gets to use it.
He stops inches from Vincenzo, eyes burning.
Daniel (low):
"Finally. The boogeyman walks into the light."
Vincenzo blinks slowly, confused.
Daniel snaps the cuffs open.
"Hands forward."
Vincenzo does, but with that same blank, calm confusion—like someone who still doesn't understand what the hell is going on.
Daniel grips his wrist hard, locking the metal around it with a vicious click.
" Many years of bodies, fear and whispers. And now? You stand here with nothing left to hide behind."
He locks the second cuff.
Daniel (leaning close):
"You're arrested now, Moretti."
Lena Hart steps beside Daniel, tablet recording from multiple angles.
"All internal channels secure. Video feed stable. No leaks. Not yet."
She glances at Vincenzo with cold sarcasm.
"Enjoy the privacy while it lasts mastermind."
Alex walks in a slow circle around Vincenzo.
"Never thought I'd see the legend up close. Looks… smaller than the stories."
He smirks at Daniel.
"This footage is going to break half the city when we drop it."
Ethan Cole stands back, observing with scientific detachment.
"Arrest is clean. Zero violations on camera. Everything will hold in court."
Ethan studies Vincenzo's face like he's looking at a puzzle.
"…He doesn't look like he expected this to happen now."
Marcus steps forward, voice carrying the weight of the law.
"Let's move. The sooner he's processed, the safer Mateo remains."
He looks directly at Vincenzo.
"You should've seen this coming."
Vincenzo frowns slightly.
"…Seen what coming?"
Alex laughs under his breath.
Daniel pulls Vincenzo forward.
The officers tighten formation.
Guns rise just a bit higher.
Helicopters angle downward, bathing the mansion entrance in harsh white light.
No audience.
No screaming reporters.
No public.
Just the law closing in.
Daniel speaks one last time, voice cold enough to freeze blood:
"You will never walk out of a police station again. Not after when we have eye witness Mateo."
Vincenzo looks genuinely confused.
"…Mateo? Who the hell is Mateo?"
Daniel's jaw tightens.
"Save it."
And they drag him toward the armored convoy waiting to disappear him from the world before anyone outside even knows he's been touched.
----------
*CITY POLICE STATION - INSIDE THE CELL*
The door slammed shut behind the officers, leaving Vincenzo alone in the cramped, fluorescent-lit room.
For a moment, he simply sat there — back straight, expression carved from stone, fingers loosely interlocked on the metal table.
The perfect portrait of a mafia kingpin unbothered by the world.
Only he wasn't one.
A long, slow exhale escaped him.
"So that's why…" he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing as the pieces finally connected in his head.
The Santaro massacre.
The park.
The blurred video.
And now Mateo — whoever the hell that was — apparently with the police.
He leaned back in the chair, jaw clenched.
Cold on the outside.
Childishly furious on the inside.
Great. Fantastic. Perfect.
So some random guy films me in a park and suddenly I'm the mastermind of a massacre?
Santaro boss dies, and everyone just goes— 'Yeah, must be Vincenzo.'
LIKE I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO DO?!
He rubbed his temples, maintaining the image of a calm, calculating criminal lord.
The officers outside probably imagined he was planning ten different assassination routes.
In reality?
Bro I don't even know who Mateo is.
Why would I kill some noodle-stick dude with a phone?
Can someone tell them I WAS JUST SITTING THERE?!
His face remained emotionless, his voice low and flat as he whispered:
"Unbelievable. They truly think I ordered all of that?"
The suspicion in their eyes… the way they kept repeating Mateo's name as if it should shake me…
He didn't admit it out loud, but inside he was screaming.
They think I'll kill the guy.
I didn't even know he existed five minutes ago!
He slumped forward slightly, elbows on the table, fingers tapping in irritation.
"This is so stupid…" he murmured — the closest he ever got to losing composure.
His mind spun again, replaying their words:
"We know you ordered it."
"Mateo saw everything."
"Your face is blurry, but your voice matches."
He groaned silently.
OF COURSE my voice matches. It's my voice. I WAS TALKING ABOUT THROWING THE DRUNK OUT.
He shut his eyes and forced himself still, mask sliding back over him — the cold, unreadable expression that terrified half the city.
To anyone watching?
He looked like a criminal planning revenge.
Inside?
He was mentally throwing a tantrum on the floor.
---
The hallway outside the interrogation room vibrated with tension.
Every officer in the building knew this wasn't just an arrest — it was a warning to the entire underworld.
Daniel Kane stood at the center of it, hands on his back, jaw clenched so hard the muscle twitched.
Through the observation window, he watched Vincenzo sit in the interrogation room — calm, silent, expression unreadable.
To Daniel, that face meant only one thing:
He knows exactly why he's here.
Daniel exhaled through his teeth.
"Look at him… acting like he saw this coming. He knows we arrested him early to secure Mateo. He knows we cut off his chance to silence the witness."
Lena folded her arms, nodding sharply.
"Of course he knows. You don't get that high without reading the room. He must've realized that to save Mateo before his judgement we could only take this step."
Alex scoffed.
"The bastard probably already planned ten different ways to shut Mateo up. Lucky for us, we dragged him in before he could move."
Marcus crossed his arms, gaze firm.
"That's exactly why this arrest had to be public inside the department. Word will spread: even Vincenzo Moretti can't escape the law."
Ethan, still holding files to his chest, frowned slightly.
"His reactions… are strange. He didn't threaten, he kept asking why he was here, was he being sarcastic?."
Daniel gave a dry laugh.
"That's how you know he knows."
He pointed through the glass.
"First sarcasm and now silence? That's calculation. He's already piecing everything together — the massacre, the witness, the leaks. He knows Mateo's the only thing tying him to the Santaro hit."
Lena leaned in to the glass with narrowed eyes.
"He's probably furious we separated him from Mateo before he could fix the problem."
Alex grinned.
"Well, too late for him. Mateo's safe — and we've got Vincenzo boxed in."
Marcus gave a firm nod of approval.
"Good work, all of you. This arrest sends a message: no one is above the law. Not even him."
They had no idea the man inside the room wasn't "calculating" anything.
Inside that calm expression, Vincenzo was thinking:
Bro why did always happen to me? Have I wronged too much people in my past live? Why always I am the one misunderstood?.
Vincenzo thought innocently, without knowing someone in next door was having much worse time.
*ISOLATED WITNESS ROOM*
Mateo sat in a heavily guarded security room, wrapped in a blanket he didn't remember asking for.
He stared blankly at the floor, trembling.
"They arrested him… They actually arrested him…"
His voice cracked.
"Oh god… he definitely knows it's because of me."
In Mateo's terrified mind, a figure like Vincenzo is like a devil who he had offended.
And in his mind he had already imagine Vincenzo having Cold, controlled, terrifying rage for him.
"He's going to kill me… I just recorded a video… I didn't think— I didn't think he'd actually come for me…"
He clutched his hair.
"They arrested him early… because he was going to finish me first… wasn't he?"
The guards outside exchanged glances.
Everyone in the department believed the same thing.