Chapter 7 - The Man Who Had Never Feared Death Finally Feared Losing His SonSalvatore called.
“Bring the ledger.”
Lorenzo's voice was ice.
“If you hurt Daniel, I will destroy everything.”
Salvatore laughed.
“You finally understand.”
“Where is my son?”
“Safe.”
“For now.”
I stood beside Lorenzo.
“What do you want?”
“The code.”
“I have it.”
“Then bring it.”
“Where?”
“Your family's old warehouse.”
The call ended.
We prepared.
My father stayed behind.
My grandmother stayed with him.
Isabella joined us.
Marco appeared.
He had escaped Victor.
The Moretti siblings stood together.
Brothers.
Enemies.
Survivors.
The warehouse was dark.
Daniel sat tied to a chair.
Salvatore stood behind him.
Lorenzo froze.
“Dad?”
Salvatore smiled.
“You always were the favorite.”
Lorenzo raised his gun.
“You killed him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he would have exposed me.”
“You destroyed our family.”
“No.”
“I perfected it.”
I stepped forward.
“Where is the ledger?”
Salvatore pointed at me.
“You have it.”
“Yes.”
“You memorized the code.”
“Yes.”
“Say it.”
“No.”
His gun touched Daniel's head.
“Say it.”
I looked at Daniel.
He was scared.
But trying to be brave.
I remembered the first night.
The bullet.
The blood.
The man who had trusted my hands.
Now I understood why he had said:
“You're the only thing between me and death.”
I had become the thing between Daniel and death too.
I said the code.
Salvatore smiled.
Then nothing happened.
He stared.
“Wrong.”
I smiled.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“The code isn't numbers.”
“What?”
“It's a story.”
He understood too late.
The sequence had been a trap.
My father had designed the final code so that only someone who understood his memories could activate it.
The real sequence was hidden in the children's story.
I recited it.
The vault opened.
Every document inside streamed to the cloud.
Federal agents received the files.
The entire criminal network became public.
Salvatore screamed.
“You little—”
Lorenzo tackled him.
The men fought.
Gunfire erupted.
I freed Daniel.
He ran into Lorenzo's arms.
“Dad.”
Lorenzo hugged him.
Then looked at me.
“Thank you.”
Salvatore was arrested.
But he had one last secret.
The medical research.
He had funded experiments.
My father's records showed that I had been exposed to a neurological drug as a child.
I froze.
“What?”
My father lowered his eyes.
“You were part of the original study.”
I couldn't breathe.
“I never knew.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
“Why?”
“Because the treatment changed the way you recognize patterns.”
“That sounds impossible.”
“It isn't.”
My father explained.
The drug had enhanced certain neurological pathways.
It was experimental.
It should never have been given to children.
I survived.
Others didn't.
My father spent the rest of his life trying to destroy the program.
I was the only successful subject.
That was why I could decode the ledger.
Why I could recognize hidden patterns.
Why my father had trained me through stories.
I wasn't a criminal heir.
I was his last piece of evidence.
Lorenzo came beside me.
“You don't have to carry this alone.”
I looked at him.
“Why do you care?”
He smiled faintly.
“Because you saved my life.”
“That isn't enough.”
“No.”
He took my hand.
“Now I love you.”
I froze.
I didn't answer.
Not because I didn't feel it.
Because I was afraid.
Then Daniel looked up.
“I think you should kiss her.”
We laughed.
For the first time in days.
The war was almost over.
But one more enemy remained.
May you like
Victor Kane.
And he had disappeared with the research.
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