Chapter 11 - THE FINAL THREAT
“Marcus.”
Luca spat the name like a curse.
Vanessa’s brother hadn’t run far enough. With his father in federal prison and his family’s assets frozen, Marcus had nothing left to lose. He wasn’t trying to win a war anymore. He was just trying to inflict pain.
“We have to move,” Luca said, his voice terrifyingly calm. He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door. “Daniel, stay between us.”
“They know where my dad is,” I panicked, the polaroid slipping from my fingers. “Luca, they were at St. Jude’s!”
“My men are at St. Jude’s. No one gets in or out without my authorization.” Luca dragged us down the hallway toward the secure wing of the house. “Marcus left this on the steps to draw me out. He wants me distracted so he can make a move.”
We reached the steel door of the panic room. Luca punched in a code, and the heavy door hissed open.
“Get inside,” Luca told Daniel.
The boy ran in, clutching a book to his chest. But when I tried to follow, I realized Luca wasn’t coming with us.
“What are you doing?” I grabbed his arm.
“Marcus thinks I’ll cower in a bunker while he threatens the people I love,” Luca said, his dark eyes blazing with a lethal fire. “He forgot who he’s dealing with.”
“Luca, please,” I begged, my fingers digging into his sleeve. “Don’t go out there. Let your security handle it. If something happens to you…”
Luca stopped. He looked down at my hand gripping his arm, then looked up into my eyes.
He didn’t say a word. He just cupped the back of my neck, pulled me forward, and kissed me.
It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It was desperate, fierce, and entirely claiming. It knocked the breath out of my lungs and made the world tilt on its axis.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine.
“Lock the door,” he whispered. “I will be back in ten minutes.”
He stepped away, the steel door sliding shut between us, locking with a heavy thud.
Inside the small, reinforced room, the silence was deafening. Daniel sat on a couch in the corner, staring at the floor. I sat next to him, wrapping my arm around his shoulders.
“Is my dad going to die?” Daniel asked quietly.
“No,” I said with absolute certainty. “Your dad is the strongest man I’ve ever met.”
We sat in the quiet for what felt like an eternity. My mind raced. Marcus was desperate. Desperate men were unpredictable.
Suddenly, the intercom on the wall buzzed to life.
It wasn’t Luca’s voice.
“Emily.”
My blood turned to ice. It was Vanessa.
“I know you’re in there,” Vanessa’s voice crackled through the speaker, dripping with venom. “Marcus just breached the south gates. Luca’s men are busy fighting him in the courtyard. But they left the back entrance wide open for me.”
Daniel gripped my hand, his eyes wide with terror.
“You ruined my life,” Vanessa hissed. “You took my husband, you took my money, and you kept that bastard child alive. If I can’t have the Moretti empire, I’m going to make sure neither of you get it either.”
There was a metallic scraping sound on the other side of the heavy steel door.
“I have override codes, Emily. My father built this house.”
The keypad outside beeped.
Three. Two. One.
The heavy steel door clicked.
And slowly began to slide open.
I pushed Daniel behind me, looking desperately around the room for a weapon. There was nothing. Just empty space.
Vanessa stepped into the panic room.
She looked entirely unhinged. Her designer clothes were ruined, her hair wild, and in her right hand, she held a suppressed pistol aimed directly at my chest.
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“Goodbye, Emily,” Vanessa smiled.
She pulled the trigger.
