Chapter 11 - THE JUDAS TRAP
The cathedral erupted into chaos.
Carlo’s men, realizing they had been betrayed by the corrupt detective who promised to protect them, didn't hesitate. They opened fire on my father's men in the choir loft.
Gunfire shattered the stained-glass windows, raining colorful shards of glass down onto the pews.
Matteo grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a massive marble pillar.
"Stay down!" Matteo yelled over the deafening roar of automatic weapons.
I covered my ears, the sound vibrating in my chest.
Across the aisle, I saw my father dive behind the altar, returning fire. He looked terrified. The smug, untouchable mastermind was suddenly realizing he had walked into a trap of his own making.
Answer One, Open Two. Matteo hadn't brought me here to surrender. He had brought me here to bait the two remaining factions of the Syndicate into destroying each other.
"We have to get out of here!" I yelled.
Matteo nodded. He pulled his gun and fired three precise shots, taking down a man who tried to flank our position.
"To the sacristy!" Matteo ordered, pointing to a small wooden door near the back of the altar.
We sprinted across the open floor. Bullets chipped the stone at our feet.
Just as I reached the door, a hand reached out and grabbed my hair, yanking me backward.
I screamed, falling hard onto the marble floor.
My father stood over me, his face covered in dust, his eyes wild and desperate. He pressed the barrel of his gun against my forehead.
"Drop it, Ricci!" my father screamed at Matteo. "Drop the gun, or I blow her brains out!"
Matteo froze. He stood ten feet away, his weapon raised.
"Let her go, Thomas," Matteo said, his voice deadly calm. "You're surrounded. Your men are dead."
"She's my daughter! She's my blood!" my father ranted, his hand shaking uncontrollably. "I own her! I made her!"
"You made a mistake," I whispered.
My father looked down at me. "Shut up!"
"I said," I repeated, my voice steadying, "you made a mistake."
While my father was focused on Matteo, I reached into the pocket of my coat.
I pulled out the silver bracelet Isabella had given me. It wasn't just jewelry. Matteo had modified it before we left the penthouse.
It was a heavy, solid silver band with a sharp, pointed clasp.
I drove the clasp directly into my father's kneecap.
He shrieked in agony, his leg buckling. The gun fired wildly into the ceiling.
I rolled out of the way just as Matteo closed the distance.
Matteo didn't shoot him. He didn't need to. He struck my father across the jaw with the butt of his pistol, sending the corrupt detective crashing to the floor, unconscious.
The gunfire in the cathedral had stopped. Police sirens, real ones this time, wailed in the distance.
Matteo reached down and offered me his hand.
I took it, pulling myself up.
"You okay?" Matteo asked, breathing heavily.
I looked down at the man who had sired me. I felt nothing but pity.
"I'm fine," I said. "Let's go home."
We slipped out through the back door of the cathedral just as the FBI swarmed the front.
We walked for several blocks in the rain, the adrenaline slowly leaving my system.
"You knew he would try to take me hostage," I realized, looking at Matteo.
"I knew he would try," Matteo said, putting his jacket over my shoulders to block the rain. "But I also knew you were strong enough to stop him."
I looked at the silver bracelet on my wrist. There was a drop of blood on it. I wiped it clean.
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"It's over," I whispered.
"It's over," Matteo confirmed. "The Syndicate is broken. Carlo is in jail. Your father is going away for life. The nightmare is done."
