Chapter 7 - BLOOD AT BOOTH SEVEN
Adrien moved in front of Lena.
Enzo smiled.
“Still protecting strays.”
“She is not a stray.”
“No. She is worse. She is evidence.”
Adrien kept his body between the gun and Lena.
“You killed Nico.”
“I gave Moretti a location. I did not pull the trigger.”
“You sold your nephew.”
“Nico was going to inherit everything. Your father never saw me as more than his useful younger brother.”
“So you had him murdered.”
“I corrected an imbalance.”
Lena looked toward the kitchen entrance.
Marco was nowhere in sight.
Enzo noticed.
“Your guards have been redirected. Celeste has been very helpful.”
Lena’s heart sank.
Celeste entered carrying another gun.
“I warned you to stay invisible,” she said.
“You told Moretti about me,” Lena whispered.
Celeste’s face twisted.
“I gave twelve years to Adrien. I handled his businesses, protected his privacy, removed every woman who tried to get close. Then you fell asleep in his booth, touched his wrist, and suddenly he looked at you as though the rest of us did not exist.”
Adrien’s voice became lethal.
“This was never love, Celeste.”
Pain flashed across her face.
“I know.”
Her gun shifted toward Lena.
“That is why she has to die.”
Adrien stepped closer to Celeste.
“Give me the weapon.”
She laughed shakily.
“You never said my name the way you say hers.”
“Celeste.”
For one second, hope appeared in her eyes.
Adrien used it.
He knocked the gun from her hand.
At the same moment, Lena threw herself beneath the table as Enzo fired.
The bullet struck Adrien’s shoulder.
He crashed against the booth.
Lena screamed.
Enzo aimed again.
Before he could fire, Marco rushed from the kitchen and shot him in the leg.
Enzo fell.
Celeste grabbed her weapon and fired wildly.
The bullet shattered the bottle wall behind the bar.
Adrien, bleeding heavily, pulled Lena against the floor.
Marco’s men flooded the restaurant.
Within seconds, Celeste and Enzo were disarmed.
Enzo laughed from the floor.
“You think this ends anything? Moretti has police captains, judges, city officials. Release that ledger and half of Chicago burns.”
Adrien pressed a hand over his wound.
“Then let it burn.”
Enzo’s smile disappeared.
Adrien ordered Marco to deliver copies of the evidence to federal investigators and three news organizations.
“No sealed deals,” he said. “No missing pages.”
Marco hesitated.
“The ledger also contains Varelli operations.”
“I know.”
“If we release everything, we lose the organization.”
Adrien looked at Lena.
His family’s power had been built through fear, secrets, and blood.
For years, he had believed protecting the organization meant protecting the people inside it.
Now he understood that the organization had devoured everyone who mattered.
“Release it,” he said.
Marco nodded.
Police sirens approached in the distance.
Lena pressed a napkin against Adrien’s shoulder.
“You need a hospital.”
“It passed through.”
“You were shot.”
“It is inconvenient, not fatal.”
She glared at him through tears.
“You are the most impossible man I’ve ever met.”
His mouth almost curved.
“You are still here.”
“Someone has to stop you from bleeding on your expensive booth.”
Adrien’s expression softened.
He touched her cheek.
“Lena.”
She leaned into his hand.
“You chose the truth over your family.”
“No.”
His thumb brushed away a tear.
“I chose the family that deserved protecting.”
Before she could answer, federal agents entered Lavelle.
Adrien raised his uninjured hand.
One agent approached with handcuffs.
Lena stood.
“What are you doing?”
“Adrien Varelli,” the agent said, “you are under arrest on suspicion of racketeering, bribery, illegal importation, and conspiracy.”
Lena looked at Adrien in horror.
He did not resist.
Marco stepped forward.
“Our attorneys—”
“No,” Adrien said.
Everyone stared at him.
“If I expect the truth from Enzo, then I will not hide from mine.”
The agent placed handcuffs around his wrists.
Adrien’s body went rigid the moment the metal touched his skin.
His breathing changed.
Lena saw panic enter his eyes.
She stepped in front of him and placed both hands around his cuffed fingers.
The agents began to object.
Adrien looked only at her.
“Focus on my voice,” she whispered, repeating the words her father had once told him. “You are not underground. You are not twelve. You are not alone.”
His breathing steadied.
“Will you wait for me?” he asked.
Lena’s heart broke.
“I don’t know.”
The answer hurt him, but she refused to lie.
Then she rose on her toes and kissed him.
It was brief, desperate, and full of everything they had been too afraid to say.
When she stepped back, Adrien’s eyes were no longer cold.
“I’ll give you a reason,” he said.
The agents led him away.
Outside, camera flashes exploded through the darkness.
May you like
By sunrise, every news station in Chicago carried the same headline:
MAFIA KING ADRIEN VARELLI DESTROYS HIS OWN EMPIRE.
