Chapter 6 - The Deal I Made With the Devil
Vincent needed surgery.
He refused a hospital.
I refused to let him bleed on his expensive furniture.
Eventually, a private doctor arrived.
The bullet had passed through.
No major damage.
Afterward, Vincent slept.
I sat beside him.
Luca entered quietly.
“You should rest.”
“I can't.”
“You're falling in love with him.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Luca smiled.
“I know my brother.”
“I've known him for two days.”
“That's enough for Vincent.”
I looked toward the bedroom.
“What happened between him and Madison?”
Luca's smile disappeared.
“She thought he loved her.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Vincent doesn't love easily.”
I looked at him.
“Has he ever?”
“Once.”
“Who?”
“My mother.”
I didn't know what to say.
Luca sat down.
“After our father died, Vincent became everything everyone expected him to be.”
“Why?”
“To keep me alive.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Later that night, Vincent woke.
I was asleep in a chair.
He looked at me.
Then quietly pulled a blanket over my shoulders.
I opened my eyes.
“You should be sleeping.”
“So should you.”
He smiled.
“I was checking if you were real.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Every time I close my eyes, I expect this to disappear.”
I didn't know what to say.
He reached for my hand.
Then stopped before touching it.
“May I?”
I nodded.
His fingers closed around mine.
Warm.
Careful.
Nothing like the man people feared.
“I don't know what happens next,” I whispered.
“Neither do I.”
“That's new for you.”
“Yes.”
I smiled.
Then his phone rang.
His expression changed.
He answered.
“What?”
Silence.
Then:
“Put him on.”
He listened.
His face went white.
He ended the call.
“What happened?”
“Rizzo has my mother.”
I stood.
“We're going.”
“No.”
“Vincent.”
“You stay here.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Nora, this is different.”
“My father died because people kept deciding what I was allowed to know.”
He went silent.
“I am done being protected by lies.”
He nodded slowly.
“All right.”
We made a plan.
Rizzo wanted the ledger.
We would give him a copy.
The original would stay hidden.
Luca would track the signal.
I would enter with Vincent.
At midnight, we arrived at an abandoned church.
Rizzo stood near the altar.
Elena sat beside him.
Rizzo smiled.
“Vincent.”
“Release her.”
“First the ledger.”
Vincent handed him a case.
Rizzo opened it.
He laughed.
“Fake.”
Vincent didn't react.
Rizzo looked at me.
“You're just like your father.”
I stepped forward.
“You killed him.”
Rizzo smiled.
“He knew too much.”
“You're going to prison.”
Rizzo laughed.
“No.”
Vincent moved.
“Why?”
“Because your own people are already mine.”
A dozen men emerged.
Vincent's security team lowered their weapons.
One of them turned against us.
Vincent stared.
“Marco.”
Marco smiled.
“I've waited ten years.”
Gunfire erupted.
The church became chaos.
Vincent pulled me behind a pillar.
Luca entered from the side with backup.
Elena escaped.
Rizzo ran.
I chased him.
Vincent shouted my name.
I didn't stop.
Rizzo entered a room.
I followed.
He turned with a gun.
Before he could fire, Vincent stepped between us.
The gunshot echoed.
Vincent fell.
Rizzo ran.
I dropped beside Vincent.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Don't cry.”
“You're bleeding.”
“Again.”
“You're impossible.”
He smiled.
“I know.”
Police sirens approached.
Luca had called them.
Rizzo was captured outside.
For the first time in decades, the Moretti empire began collapsing.
May you like
And Vincent knew exactly what he wanted to do next.
Walk away.
