Chapter 6 - The Mafia Boss Who Put His Life Between Me And A Bullet
Roman read the message three times.
Then he looked at Ava.
His expression became something I had never seen before.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for her.
He called every security team.
The mansion became a fortress.
Ava could not step outside without six people surrounding her.
Lily tried to keep calm.
Inside, she was falling apart.
Roman found her in the kitchen.
"You should sleep."
"How can I?"
He sat beside her.
"I know."
"No, you don't."
He was silent.
"My whole life, people left."
She wiped her tears.
"Now that I finally have a family, everyone is in danger because of me."
Roman looked at her.
"That's not true."
"Isn't it?"
"They came because of my family."
"They came because of me."
"They came because you are important."
She laughed bitterly.
"I don't want to be important."
Roman reached for her hand.
"You don't have to be anything."
That night, he stayed outside her bedroom.
She found him there at four in the morning.
"Why are you awake?"
"Security."
"You're not security."
"Tonight I am."
She smiled faintly.
"You don't have to protect me every second."
"I know."
"Then why?"
"Because I love you."
The words hung between them.
Lily froze.
Roman looked almost surprised that he had said them.
"I didn't plan to say that tonight."
She whispered:
"Say it again."
"I love you."
She kissed him.
For one moment, there was no danger.
No ledger.
No secrets.
Only two lonely people finally finding each other.
The next morning, Moretti disappeared.
Arthur discovered that his private plane had left Logan Airport.
Roman gave one order.
"Find him."
They followed the money to a warehouse in Salem.
Lily stayed behind.
But Ava refused.
"I want Lily."
Roman objected.
Ava cried.
Eventually Lily promised she would stay inside the armored vehicle.
They reached the warehouse at dusk.
The doors were open.
Too open.
Roman immediately knew something was wrong.
"Stay here."
Lily nodded.
He entered with Arthur.
Seconds later, gunfire erupted.
A bullet shattered the vehicle window.
Lily dragged Ava to the floor.
Another bullet.
Then silence.
The driver shouted:
"Stay down!"
Lily held Ava against her chest.
Ava trembled.
"Daddy."
"He'll be okay."
But Lily wasn't sure.
She looked through the broken window.
Roman stood outside.
A gunman aimed at him from the roof.
Lily screamed.
"Roman!"
He turned.
The gunman fired.
Roman stepped in front of Lily's vehicle.
The bullet hit his shoulder.
He staggered.
Arthur fired upward.
The shooter fell.
Roman collapsed.
Lily ran toward him.
"Roman!"
He pushed himself upright.
"I'm fine."
"You've been shot twice."
"One is a graze."
"The other?"
He looked at his shoulder.
"Also a graze."
Lily nearly laughed through her tears.
"You are terrible at lying."
He smiled.
Ava rushed into his arms.
He held her carefully.
"I'm okay."
Ava cried.
"You promised."
"I know."
Inside the warehouse, Moretti had left evidence behind.
A folder.
Inside was the complete record of the original conspiracy.
But the final page contained something unexpected.
Anna had not merely been a victim.
She had been working undercover.
For twenty years.
She had been collecting evidence from inside the network.
And she had one final secret.
She had deliberately separated Lily and Lena because she knew the network had a mole inside the DeLuca family.
A mole who had helped Moretti for decades.
Roman stared at the page.
"Who?"
Anna looked at the photograph.
The name was written beneath it.
Arthur.
Lily's breath stopped.
Arthur had been beside Roman the entire time.
The trusted protector.
The man who had guarded Ava.
The man who had helped them.
He was the mole.
Roman refused to believe it.
"Impossible."
Anna whispered:
"Don't make the mistake I made."
"What mistake?"
"Trusting the man who never needed to earn it."
Arthur was suddenly nowhere to be found.
Security cameras showed him leaving the property ten minutes earlier.
Roman's face went cold.
"Find him."
Lily realized.
Ava was alone in her room.
She ran upstairs.
The bedroom was empty.
The window was open.
A stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
And beside it was a red envelope.
Lily opened it.
May you like
Inside were three words.
BRING ME THE GIRL.
