Chapter 7 - The Gun at His Back
The silence in the bunker was suffocating, broken only by the harsh, ragged breathing of the men standing inside it.
I froze, still holding Alexei. My heart, which had just swollen with the impossible joy of holding my son, plummeted into an abyss of terror.
Luca Moretti, the Don of Chicago, stood in the doorway with his Glock raised, the barrel aimed squarely between Alexei's shoulder blades.
"Luca, what are you doing?" I panicked, stepping deliberately in front of Alexei, shielding him with my own body. "He saved us! He killed Victor!"
Luca didn't lower the gun. His dark eyes were cold, calculating, and devoid of the warmth he had shown me earlier tonight.
"Step aside, Catherine," Luca commanded, his voice a low, lethal rumble. "He may have killed Victor, but he is still a Volkov weapon. He was trained to dismantle this family. I cannot let him walk out of here alive."
"He's your nephew!" I screamed, tears springing to my eyes. "He's Matteo's son!"
"Matteo is dead," Luca said bitterly. "And this man spent twenty-eight years learning how to slaughter my men. He is a liability the syndicate cannot afford."
Behind me, Alexei let out a dark, cynical laugh.
He gently grasped my shoulders and moved me aside, stepping directly into Luca's line of fire. He didn't raise his knives. He didn't reach for a weapon. He just stood there, staring down the barrel of his uncle's gun with absolute defiance.
"Do it, then," Alexei challenged, his thick Russian accent grating against the silence. "Shoot me in the back, Uncle. Prove Victor right. Prove that the Morettis are exactly the treacherous cowards he raised me to believe you were."
Luca's jaw clenched. The muscles in his neck strained as he tightened his grip on the pistol.
"You killed twelve of my men tonight before you realized who your mother was," Luca stated coldly.
"They were in my way," Alexei retorted, devoid of apology. "I was following orders. Until I saw her face."
Alexei took a slow step toward the gun.
"I don't want your empire, Moretti," Alexei said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "I don't care about your syndicate. I spent my entire life as a dog on Victor's leash. I finally cut it. If you think I’m going to let you put another leash on me, you’d better pull that trigger right now."
The tension in the room was a physical weight, crushing the air out of my lungs.
Rebecca, trembling beside me, suddenly stepped forward.
"Stop it!" she cried, looking at Luca. "He’s my brother! You promised me we were family now! Is this what your family does? You just kill each other?!"
Luca’s eyes flickered to Rebecca. The fierce, desperate plea in her voice mirrored the exact tone Matteo used to use when trying to talk Luca out of a violent decision years ago.
Luca stared at Alexei for a long, heavy moment.
He saw the physical scars of the Volkov training, the lethal posture of an assassin. But he also saw the unyielding, stubborn pride of the Moretti bloodline.
Slowly, agonizingly, Luca lowered the gun.
"You don't walk away from the life, Alexei," Luca warned quietly. "Even if you want to. The Volkovs in Russia will hear about what you did to Victor. They will send hunters. The Commission in New York will demand your head for killing a Don without a sanctioned vote. You are a marked man."
"I've been a marked man since the day I was born," Alexei replied smoothly, picking up one of his combat knives and spinning it casually in his hand. "Let them come. I need the practice."
Luca sighed, holstering his weapon. He ran a hand over his exhausted, blood-stained face.
"Marco," Luca called out, not looking away from Alexei. "What's the status of the estate?"
Marco, still clutching his bandaged leg, stepped forward. "The perimeter is secure, Boss. The Volkov forces are routed. But local law enforcement is gathering at the gates. The explosion from the grenade drew too much attention. We can't cover this up with a bribe."
Luca nodded. "We have to leave. The estate is compromised."
"Where do we go?" I asked, my voice shaking. "We can't just run forever."
"We aren't running," Luca said, his eyes hardening. "We are going to the only place the police and the rival families can't touch us. The old Moretti compound in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It’s off the grid. Heavily fortified. We regroup there."
Luca looked at Alexei. "You’re coming with us."
Alexei scoffed. "I don't take orders from you."
"It's not an order," Luca shot back. "It's survival. If you walk out of here alone, you won't last three days against the Russian hit squads. You want to protect your mother and your sister? You do it with me."
Alexei hesitated, looking at me and Rebecca. He hated Luca, but he knew the tactical reality of the situation.
"Fine," Alexei grunted. "But I drive my own vehicle."
"Suit yourself," Luca said.
Ten minutes later, we were moving through the chaotic, smoke-filled remains of the mansion. Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder by the second. The estate was a disaster zone—shattered glass, bullet-riddled walls, and the bodies of Volkov mercenaries littered the pristine marble floors.
We reached the underground garage. Marco had prepared three heavily armored SUVs.
Luca ushered me and Rebecca into the center vehicle. Alexei walked toward a sleek, black tactical truck parked in the corner, but stopped when he saw Richard Bennett—Rebecca’s adoptive father—huddled in the back of the third SUV, flanked by guards.
Alexei’s eyes narrowed. He walked over to Luca.
"Why is he coming?" Alexei demanded, pointing at Bennett. "He bought my sister. He funded the operation that hid my existence."
"He's a civilian," Luca stated. "And he raised Rebecca. I’m not leaving him here for the police to interrogate. He knows too much."
Alexei glared at Bennett through the tinted glass. "If he steps out of line, I’ll cut his throat."
"Get in your truck, Alexei," Luca sighed, exhausted by the constant friction.
We pulled out of the garage just as the first flashing red and blue lights of the police cruisers breached the front gates of the estate.
Marco, driving our SUV, punched the accelerator, tearing down a hidden service road that bypassed the main entrance. The three-vehicle convoy melted into the darkness, slipping out of Chicago right under the noses of the authorities.
I sat in the back seat, holding Rebecca's hand, my injured shoulder throbbing a dull, rhythmic ache. I looked out the window at the city skyline fading into the distance.
Twenty-four hours ago, I was a maid serving dinner, trying to steal a slice of cake for a daughter I thought didn't want me.
Now, I was fleeing the state in an armored convoy with the Don of Chicago, my recovered daughter, and the lethal assassin son I never knew I had.
The silence in the car was heavy. Luca sat in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead, his mind working furiously.
"Luca?" I whispered.
He didn't turn around, but he tilted his head slightly. "Yes, Catherine?"
"Why did Arthur Bellini keep Alexei alive twenty-eight years ago?" I asked, the question gnawing at my brain. "If he sold Rebecca to the Bennetts to hide the bloodline, why give Alexei to the Volkovs? Why not just... kill him?"
Luca went perfectly still.
Marco gripped the steering wheel tighter.
"Arthur didn't give Alexei to the Volkovs, Catherine," Luca said quietly, his voice laced with a terrifying realization.
I frowned, confused. "But Vanessa said..."
"Vanessa said Arthur gave the boy to the Volkovs," Luca corrected. "But Arthur wasn't working with the Volkovs twenty-eight years ago. He was a low-level captain trying to earn his way up. He didn't have the connections to hand a child over to the head of the Russian mob."
"Then who did?" Rebecca asked, terrified.
Luca slowly turned around to face me, his eyes wide with a horrific clarity.
"Someone else knew you had twins, Catherine," Luca whispered. "Someone powerful enough to orchestrate the hit on my brother, cover up the adoption, and hand the male heir over to the Russians to guarantee the Moretti family would eventually destroy itself."
"Who?" I begged, panic rising in my throat.
May you like
Luca swallowed hard.
"My father," Luca said.
