Chapter 6 - The Choice of Blood
Vittorio Moretti stepped out of the lead vehicle wearing a black overcoat and a smile that carried no warmth.
He was older than Lucian, silver-haired and elegant, with the calm confidence of a man who had spent his life ordering violence from a distance.
“Lucian,” he said. “You look terrible.”
Lucian stood straighter despite the pain.
“You always did enjoy family reunions.”
Vittorio’s gaze shifted toward Elena.
“And this must be the nurse who has caused so much trouble.”
Elena refused to step back.
Vittorio smiled slightly.
“Brave.”
“Careful,” Lucian said. “You might mistake her for someone you can control.”
Vittorio’s expression cooled.
Garrett stood between them, holding his injured wrist.
“He’s yours,” Garrett said. “I brought you to him. Now give me what you promised.”
Vittorio looked at Garrett with mild amusement.
“You think I promised you something?”
Garrett’s face changed.
“You said you would make her come back.”
“I said I would remove an inconvenience.”
Elena felt sick.
Garrett turned toward her. “Elena, tell him. Tell him we can fix this.”
“There is no us to fix.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
Garrett took a step toward her.
Marco raised his weapon.
Lucian’s voice cut through the air.
“Don’t move.”
Garrett looked at him with hatred.
“You think you’re better than me? You hide behind money and men with guns.”
Lucian’s face remained unreadable.
“No,” he said. “I know exactly what I have been. That is why I am trying to become different.”
Vittorio laughed.
“You are weak, nephew. You think guilt makes you noble?”
“No,” Lucian replied. “But it keeps me from becoming you.”
The confrontation shattered.
Vittorio’s men raised weapons.
Marco’s team returned fire.
Elena dropped behind the boathouse as bullets tore through old wood. Lucian pulled her down beside him, shielding her with his body despite his injuries.
“Stay low,” he ordered.
“You’re bleeding again.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Even then, Elena almost laughed.
Garrett crawled toward them through the mud.
His face was twisted with rage.
“You ruined everything,” he said to Elena.
He reached for a fallen gun.
Elena saw it first.
She grabbed a piece of broken oar from the boathouse and swung.
The wood struck Garrett’s hand.
He cried out.
The gun slid into the water.
For a second, Garrett stared at her in disbelief.
Elena stood over him, shaking but steady.
“You will never touch me again,” she said.
He lunged.
Lucian fired once.
The bullet struck the ground beside Garrett’s shoulder.
Not him.
But close enough.
Garrett froze.
Lucian lowered the gun.
“Police are coming,” he said. “You can explain yourself to them.”
Garrett laughed bitterly. “You think anyone will believe her?”
Elena stepped forward.
“I have recordings,” she said.
She pulled the prepaid phone from her pocket.
“I recorded every call you made today.”
Garrett’s face went white.
“And Mrs. Alvarez saw your men enter my building. Marco has your payments from Vittorio. You’re not a detective protecting anyone, Garrett.”
Sirens wailed in the distance.
“You’re just a coward with a badge.”
Garrett’s shoulders collapsed.
Across the shoreline, Vittorio saw the approaching police lights and cursed.
He tried to retreat toward his vehicle.
Lucian stepped into his path.
“Don’t,” Marco warned.
But Lucian did not raise his gun.
He looked at his uncle.
“It ends here.”
Vittorio’s smile returned.
“You won’t shoot me.”
“No.”
Vittorio seemed pleased.
Then Lucian said, “Because I want you alive when you lose everything.”
The police arrived.
Federal agents followed.
Marco had sent them the financial records, the trafficking evidence, the payment trails, and the recordings connected to Vittorio’s operation.
For once, the Moretti name could not bury the truth.
Vittorio was arrested beside the lake.
Garrett Hale was taken away in handcuffs, shouting Elena’s name until the sound disappeared beneath the sirens.
Lucian sank to his knees as the adrenaline faded.
Elena caught him.
“You’re bleeding,” she said.
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“You keep saving me.”
She looked at him.
The sky was beginning to lighten over the lake.
For the first time in fourteen months, Elena did not feel like she was running.
But the fight was not over.
Because Lucian’s family empire still stood.
May you like
And he had just declared war on everything it had been built upon.
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