Chapter 11 - THE TWIN
"Lock down the estate!" Luca roared, racking the shotgun. "Get Emily and Abigail to the panic room immediately!"
I didn't wait. I turned and sprinted up the stairs, my heavy wedding gown tearing against the concrete steps.
I burst into the main foyer. The guests were panicking, screaming as the sounds of automatic gunfire echoed from the front gates. The beautiful garden reception had turned into a war zone.
"Abigail!" I screamed, searching the chaotic crowd.
"Emily!"
I saw her. She was hiding under a banquet table, clutching her ears, terrified.
I hiked up my dress and ran to her, grabbing her hand. "Come on! We have to run!"
We sprinted toward the family wing, dodging terrified guests and Marco's security men who were rushing toward the front doors.
We reached the hallway leading to Abigail's bedroom. I threw the door open, rushing to the bed to activate the hydraulic slide.
But as my hand reached for the latch, a figure stepped out of the shadows of the bathroom.
I froze.
Standing before us was Luca.
He was wearing a black tactical suit, not a tuxedo. His dark hair was slightly longer, and his eyes... his eyes were completely dead.
Abigail didn't notice the difference in the chaos. "Daddy!" she cried, running toward him.
"No!" I screamed, diving forward and tackling Abigail to the floor just as the man raised a suppressed pistol.
The bullet shattered the mirror behind us.
Abigail screamed, burying her face in the carpet.
The man lowered the gun, tilting his head as he studied me.
"You must be the new bride," he said, his voice a perfect, chilling mirror of my husband's. "I'm Lorenzo. The brother they erased."
I scrambled backward, pulling Abigail behind me. "What do you want?"
"Everything he stole from me," Lorenzo said calmly, stepping closer. "Our father thought I was too violent to lead the family. He said I lacked empathy. So he locked me in a cage in Geneva and gave my empire to Luca."
Lorenzo smiled, a terrifying expression on a face I loved so deeply.
"When Antonio was arrested, his lawyers reached out to me," Lorenzo explained. "They stopped the hush-money payments. The hospital let me walk right out the front door. And now, I am going to erase Luca's life, just like he erased mine."
He raised the gun, aiming it directly at Abigail. "Starting with his legacy."
"Don't you touch her!" I screamed, lunging forward.
I grabbed the heavy brass lamp from the nightstand and swung it with all my strength, smashing it directly into Lorenzo's face.
He stumbled backward, dropping the gun. Blood poured from a gash on his forehead.
"Run!" I yelled to Abigail.
She scrambled to her feet and sprinted out the bedroom door. I followed, but Lorenzo grabbed the train of my wedding dress.
I tripped, falling hard onto the floorboards.
Lorenzo pulled me backward, his strength terrifying. He wrapped his hands around my throat, pinning me to the floor.
"You're a feisty one," he hissed, his grip tightening, cutting off my air. "Luca always had a weakness for the help."
My vision began to blur. I clawed frantically at his hands, but he was too strong. Darkness crept into the edges of my sight.
Suddenly, a deafening blast echoed in the room.
Lorenzo screamed, his grip releasing as he was thrown off me, crashing into the vanity.
I gasped for air, coughing violently as I rolled onto my side.
Standing in the doorway, his tuxedo ripped and covered in dirt, holding the smoking shotgun, was Luca.
He looked at the man bleeding on the floor. He looked at his own face, mirrored in the blood and hatred.
"You stay away from my wife," Luca growled.
Lorenzo laughed weakly, spitting blood onto the carpet. "You can kill me, Luca. But you can't kill what I am. I'm you, without the weakness."
"You're wrong," Luca said, stepping forward. "My family is my strength. You're just a ghost."
Luca raised the shotgun.
"Daddy, no!"
Abigail had run back into the room, standing behind her father. She was terrified, trembling in her blue dress.
Luca froze. He looked at his daughter. He looked at me, struggling to sit up in my torn wedding gown.
He slowly lowered the gun.
"Marco!" Luca shouted.
Marco ran into the room, his weapon drawn. He stared in absolute shock at Lorenzo's face.
"Zip-tie him," Luca ordered, his voice steady. "And call the feds. Tell them we have a high-value domestic terrorist trespassing on my property."
Marco snapped out of his shock. "Yes, Boss."
As Lorenzo was dragged away, laughing hysterically, Luca dropped the shotgun and rushed to me.
He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my neck, holding me as if he would never let go.
"I'm sorry," he whispered over and over. "I'm so sorry."
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"I'm okay," I choked out, tears streaming down my face. "We're okay."
Abigail ran over, wrapping her arms around both of us, completing the circle.
