Chapter 9 - The Woman Who Saved My Son Became the One Person I Couldn't Bear to LoseThe rescue changed everything.
Elena moved into a secure section of the estate.
Not as a prisoner.
As family.
Daniel adored her.
He called her Aunt Elena.
She pretended to complain.
But she smiled every time.
I noticed.
I noticed everything.
The way she checked Daniel's medication.
The way she sat beside him during nightmares.
The way she rubbed his shoulders when he coughed.
The way she looked at me when she thought I wasn't watching.
I was falling in love with her.
Slowly.
Reluctantly.
Completely.
One night, I found her in the library.
“You're awake.”
“So are you.”
She smiled.
“I can't sleep.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel's condition is getting worse.”
I sat beside her.
“We're going to save him.”
“What if we can't?”
“Then we keep trying.”
She looked at me.
“You always sound so certain.”
“I have to.”
“For everyone else.”
“Yes.”
She looked down.
“You're allowed to be afraid.”
“I am.”
“What are you afraid of?”
I looked at her.
“Losing you.”
She froze.
“Gabriel.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn't.”
“I know.”
“This is complicated.”
“I know.”
“Our families.”
“I know.”
“Daniel.”
“I know.”
She smiled sadly.
“You don't listen.”
“No.”
“I love you too.”
I stopped breathing.
She laughed softly.
“That got quiet.”
I took her hand.
“I didn't expect that.”
“Neither did I.”
Then she kissed me.
It was soft.
Careful.
Like neither of us knew what came after.
When we separated, Daniel stood in the doorway.
“Gross.”
We laughed.
He smiled.
“Are you two dating?”
I looked at Elena.
She smiled.
“Maybe.”
Daniel nodded.
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Dad is nicer when you're around.”
I laughed.
Elena looked at me.
I smiled.
“Smart kid.”
Then the alarm sounded.
Again.
Vincent appeared.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Bell has moved.”
“Where?”
“Hospital.”
My blood ran cold.
“Daniel?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“Salvatore.”
Bell had taken Elena's father.
He wanted the research.
We went immediately.
The hospital had been compromised.
Guards were down.
Doors open.
Blood on the floor.
We found Salvatore alive.
Badly injured.
Bell had escaped with the research drive.
But Salvatore had protected it.
He handed me a key.
“Your father's safe.”
“What safe?”
“Under the old church.”
“What is inside?”
“The truth.”
We found the safe beneath an abandoned church.
Inside was my father's final confession.
He admitted everything.
He had created the program.
He had killed people.
He had ordered the kidnapping of children.
He had planned to use Daniel.
He had manipulated Salvatore.
He had framed Sofia.
The recording ended with one line:
If you are hearing this, then the only way to save the Moretti family is to destroy the empire.
I stared.
The empire was built on blood.
And the only way to save the people was to end it.
I looked at Elena.
“What would you do?”
She said:
“Finish it.”
We would dismantle everything.
But Bell still had the research.
He could sell it.
Or worse.
He could use it.
We tracked the drive.
It was heading toward Chicago.
May you like
To the Moretti tower.
The place where everything had begun.
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