The Mafia's Undoing-Chapter 167: Betrayal
My father was aiming a gun at me.
There was something wrong. His eyes were distant, glazed, and empty.
This was not himself.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
His voice was monotone, which felt wrong. "This ends tonight. The Marvin bloodline ends."
"Dad-"
Then he fires.
I dived, and the bullet missed me by inches, slamming into the wall behind me.
"THOMAS DOWN!" Luca shouted.
Taser was deployed. It was non-lethal, which made my father convulsed, and then he went down.
The security team swarmed in as the medical team rushed along.
I was on the ground, my heart pounding as I couldn’t process what just happened.
My father had just tried to kill me!
The NICU lockdown continued, and Katherine was trapped inside with Rose.
I could see her through the window, looking terrified and holding Rose’s incubator.
Thomas was restrained and sedated. He was being examined by the hospital psychiatrists.
I was still in shock, just sitting and staring, relieving the effect of my father trying to kill me.
Dr. Harper, the hospital psychiatrist, was examining Thomas.
"He’s been drugged. It’s a powerful hallucinogen mixed with hypnotic suggestion. Essentially, someone programmed him."
"Who?"
"Whoever had access to him in the past 48 hours. This type of drug, combined with specific commands given while under the influence, can override normal inhibitions and make someone do things they’d never normally do."
I was too stunned for words. "He was at Susan’s estate, with the family."
"Then someone was there, or someone who visited had administered the drug without his knowledge. It could be coffee, food, or anything ingested."
"Will he recover?"
"Physically, yes. The drug will metabolize in 24-48 hours. Psychologically?" Dr. Harper hesitated. "He’ll remember what he did and what he tried to do. That trauma... it’s harder to treat."
The NICU lockdown lifts, and Katherine emerges with Rose safe behind her.
She ran to me. "What happened? I heard gunshots-"
"It’s Thomas. He was drugged and tried to kill me."
"What? Thomas would never-"
"Someone got to him. One of Charles’s students drugged him and programmed him to attack."
Katherine’s face went white, her fear returning. "Those people! They can get to anyone, even family. This is Thomas, someone we trust completely."
"We’ll figure it out and find who did this."
"And if we can’t? If they keep coming and keep using people we love as weapons?"
I didn’t have an answer because she was right. If they could get to Thomas and compromise him, who else could they not reach?
The FBI investigation began with Timothy coordinating.
He had been reviewing surveillance footage from Susan’s estate in the past 48 hours.
He found out that 36 hours ago, a delivery person sent a package addressed to Thomas.
"He signed for it, opened it alone in his study. and drank something. We believed it might have been coffee. The container was found in the trash and is being analyzed now."
"Who sent it?"
"Shell company, there’s a dead end on paper trail, but the signature on the delivery manifest..." Timothy’s face was grim. "Matches handwriting samples from one of Charles’s students, Grayson Mallin. A former CIA operative and specialist in psychological operations."
"Where is he?"
"Unknown. We’ve had him on a watchlist for months, but he’s underground and knows how to disappear."
"Find him."
"We’re trying. But Tony, if he can compromise Thomas, he can compromise anyone."
Luca was immediately implementing new security protocols.
"No one gets close to family without a full background check. Biometric verification must be done. No deliveries should be accepted and no visitors cleared without an FBI clearance."
"Is that enough?" I asked.
"Nothing’s ever enough, but it’s better than what we had."
Katherine overheared us; she’s been sitting nearby. "So we live in prison forever? This is maximum security just to stay alive."
"Would you rather risk it?" Luca asked. It was unkind, just genuinely asking.
"No. But this isn’t living, this is surviving. There’s a difference."
She was right, but what choice do we have?
Twenty-four hours later. Thomas woke up.
The drug was wearing off, and his memories were returning.
He was restrained in a hospital bed with a security guard posted. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
His eyes open to confusion, then horror, now remembering.
"I tried to kill you." His voice was devastated and broken.
"It wasn’t you. You were drugged-"
"I pulled the trigger and aimed at my own son. I watched you dive and tried to shoot you again."
"You weren’t in control-"
"Does that matter?" He was now crying. "I’m a monster. I’ve always been a monster. But this, attacking my own child-"
"You’re a victim. They used you."
"I should turn myself in, as I planned and go to prison, before I hurt someone I love."
"Dad-"
"No." His voice was firm despite the tears. "My mind’s already made up. I’m dangerous as long as I’m free; they can use me, drug me, program me, and turn me into a weapon against my own family."
"We’ll protect you-"
"You can’t protect me from myself. I’m the threat now."
Amidst all the chaos, Rose kept on improving.
She was three weeks old now, weighing 2.5 pounds. She’s gaining weight steadily, breathing better, and the ventilator settings decreased.
She had also been eating tiny amounts through a feeding tube - Katherine’s pumped breast milk.
She’s completely oblivious to the drama, the attacks, and the danger.
She had just been fighting, growing, and surviving.
These were small victories, but victories nonetheless.
Late at night in the NICU, Rose slept peacefully, and Katherine stood beside the incubator, looking exhausted and stressed.
But she was always here.
I approached and sat beside her.
"Marry me."
She looked up, startled. "What?"
"Marry me. Not because of Rose or the danger surrounding us, but because I love you and I can’t imagine life without you."
"Tony, this isn’t the time-"
"It’s exactly the time." I knelt down in this hospital, the NICU, with no ring and no plan. "We almost died, Rose almost died, and my father almost killed me while drugged by our enemies. This life is uncertain, dangerous, and ridiculously short. But Katherine, I want to spend whatever time I have with you. As your husband, as Rose’s father, and as a family."
She was crying, feeling overwhelmed. "This is insane."
"I know."
"We’re in the middle of a war, hiding in a hospital and surviving day by day."
"I know."
"And you want to get married. You think that’s the best option?"
"Yes. Right here and right now in this hospital chapel, just family. I don’t care about the circumstances, I care about you, about us, and making this official."
She paused long, thinking, then replied, "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yes. I’ll marry you. Here. Now. However, you want. Because you’re right, life’s too short and unpredictable. And yes, I love you, and I want Rose to have committed parents. Really, truly committed. Not just co-parenting and not just as partners, but married."
I felt my chest heavy. "You mean it?"
"I mean it. But Tony, just a small wedding in this hospital chapel with our family. When Rose is stable enough for us to step away for an hour."
"Deal."
I kissed her finally. We were engaged, again. But for real this time.
Rose’s monitor beeped steadily beside us. Our daughter and our witness.
We’re getting married.
One week later.
Rose was already four weeks old, weighing three pounds. She’s stable and has been improving daily.
Dr. Mèng cleared us for one hour away from the NICU. "She’s doing well. You both need this."
At the hospital chapel, it was a small ceremony with Susan, Bella, Elliot, Thomas (under guard, cleared by doctors, still devastated but present), Luca, and several FBI agents providing security.
Katherine was in a simple white dress. Someone had bought it and delivered it securely. She looked beautiful.
I was in a suit, borrowed from Luca, but it fit well enough.
Dr. Mèng herself wheels Rose down in a portable incubator. It was specialized and mobile.
"She should be here, at her parents’ wedding." She had said
Rose, our daughter - wired, monitored, but alive, present and witnessing.
The chaplain was officiating, the same one from the hospital chapel.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."
A simple ceremony with no frills and no elaborate vows written in advance.
Just us, our family, and our truth.
"Do you, Anthony Thomas Marvin, take Katherine Marie Blaire to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"Do you, Katherine Marie Blaire, take Anthony Thomas Marvin to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do."
"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."
I officially kissed my wife, Katherine.
Married.
Rose’s monitors beeped steadily, signalling that she was alive and stable, as she witnessed her parents’ union.
A perfect moment.
Until-
An explosion sounded. It was distant but close, with the building shaking.
The security alarms began blaring.
"GET DOWN!" Luca screamed.
The chapel was deemed safe, but an attack is underway again.
Katherine was immediately over Rose’s incubator, protecting and shielding her.
I covered both of them. My wife and my daughter.
"NOT TODAY!" I roared toward the doors. "YOU DON’T GET TO RUIN THIS!"
But whoever was attacking wasn’t stopping.
More explosions were getting closer now.
We could hear gunfire in the distance.
Our wedding just became a warzone.
And I was done. Absolutely and fucking done!
These people, Charles’s students, have taken everything. They have endangered everyone, but not anymore.
And definitely, not today!
