Chapter 6 - Leo’s Disappearance Revealed The Real Enemy
Leo had been kidnapped.
A message arrived three hours later.
You have forty-eight hours.
No police.
No Russo soldiers.
Bring Lydia.
Dominic refused.
I knew he would.
"No."
"You don't know what they're going to do to him."
"I know what they'll do to you."
"He's your brother."
"You're my life."
I stared at him.
"You can't choose one of us."
"I can."
I stepped closer.
"And if you choose me every time, eventually everyone around you will die."
He looked devastated.
I softened.
"Let's find a way to save both."
We followed a clue hidden in Leo's apartment.
A photograph.
A bridge.
On the back was written:
WHERE THE RIVER MEETS THE RAILS.
It led us to an abandoned train yard.
We found Leo tied to a chair.
A man stood behind him.
Marcus Moretti.
The man believed dead.
The actual architect.
The mastermind behind the fabricated war.
Marcus looked at me.
"Your mother was supposed to marry my brother."
I froze.
"What?"
"She refused."
He smiled.
"Instead, she chose your father."
My father stared at him.
"Elena made her choice."
Marcus laughed.
"And you paid for it."
He revealed everything.
For years, he had built a network that manipulated both families.
The fake debt.
The poisoned drink.
The attempted shootings.
The missing money.
All of it.
He wanted Dominic dead because Dominic had begun dismantling parts of the old system.
He wanted me because my father's records could expose everything.
And he wanted Leo because Leo was the only Moretti who might turn against him.
Marcus raised his gun.
"You know what surprises me?"
He looked at Dominic.
"You actually love her."
Dominic said nothing.
Marcus laughed.
"That's the first real mistake you've ever made."
He fired.
Dominic pushed me down.
Leo kicked the chair forward.
The bullet missed.
Chaos erupted.
I grabbed Leo's chair and pulled him behind cover.
Dominic fought Marcus in close quarters.
They crashed into a steel table.
Marcus was older.
But ruthless.
Dominic was furious.
He almost killed him.
I shouted his name.
He stopped.
Marcus smiled.
"See?"
Dominic looked at me.
"You still need her permission."
"No," Dominic said.
"I need her reason."
He lowered his weapon.
"I don't want to become you."
Police entered moments later.
Marcus was arrested.
The war ended.
The families agreed to dismantle the old criminal arrangements.
But the aftermath was not easy.
Dominic's father retired.
Leo left the Moretti organization.
My father gave testimony.
The Castellanos withdrew the debt claim.
One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Gone.
My father wanted to disappear again.
I refused.
"You don't get to leave twice."
He cried.
"I don't know how to be your father after all this."
I hugged him.
"Then learn."
Dominic watched quietly.
Later that night, he came to my room.
"I want to tell you something."
"What?"
"I love you."
My heart stopped.
He continued.
"I didn't mean to."
I laughed.
"That's your defense?"
"I'm terrible at this."
"You are."
He smiled.
"I thought once this was over, you'd leave."
"Why would I?"
"Because you deserve normal."
I stepped closer.
"I never wanted normal."
"What did you want?"
"You."
His eyes filled.
He kissed me.
And this time there was no contract.
No debt.
May you like
No hidden motive.
Just two people who had survived something impossible.
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