Chapter 9 - THE LAST RULE
Saint Aurelia Church had been abandoned for fifteen years.
Rain poured through holes in the roof.
Broken saints watched from dust-covered walls.
Lena and Rosa were tied near the altar.
Vittorio’s men stood in the shadows.
At exactly midnight, the church doors opened.
Adrien entered alone.
He wore a black suit with no coat, no visible weapon, and no fear on his face.
Vittorio stepped from behind the altar.
“You came.”
“You have something that belongs with me.”
Lena’s heart twisted at the words.
Vittorio pressed a gun to Rosa’s temple.
“One life for another.”
“Release them.”
“First, kneel.”
Lena shook her head.
“Adrien, no.”
He lowered himself to his knees.
The sight terrified her more than any gun.
Vittorio smiled.
“Your father knelt once. Did you know that? The night he begged me not to kill Nico.”
Adrien’s face remained still.
“My father is dead.”
“And soon, so is everything he built.”
“It is already gone.”
Vittorio’s smile faded.
“You destroyed generations of power for this woman.”
“No.”
Adrien looked at Lena.
“I destroyed it because it should never have existed.”
Vittorio raised his weapon.
A shot rang out.
But Adrien had not been hit.
One of Vittorio’s men collapsed.
Bianca Moretti stood in the church balcony with a rifle.
Chaos exploded.
Federal agents stormed the side entrances.
Vittorio grabbed Lena and dragged her behind the altar.
He pressed the gun beneath her jaw.
Adrien tackled him.
The weapon fired.
Lena screamed.
Adrien fell.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
Vittorio stood over him and aimed again.
Rosa, still tied to the chair, kicked a fallen candle stand.
It struck Vittorio’s ankle.
His shot went wide.
Lena grabbed the brass cross from the altar and swung it into his wrist.
The gun fell.
Adrien forced himself upright and attacked.
They crashed through a rotting side door onto a narrow stone balcony above the church basement.
Vittorio pulled a knife.
He slashed Adrien across the ribs.
Adrien caught his wrist.
For a moment, both men struggled at the edge.
Vittorio smiled through blood.
“You cannot escape what you are.”
Adrien looked toward Lena.
“Yes,” he said. “I can.”
He released Vittorio’s wrist.
Vittorio’s momentum carried him backward.
The old railing broke.
He fell into the darkness below.
Adrien stood swaying in the rain.
Then his knees gave out.
Lena reached him before he hit the ground.
She pressed both hands against the bullet wound near his chest.
“No. Stay with me.”
Adrien’s eyes struggled to focus.
“You told me not to come.”
“You’ve never listened to me before. Why start now?”
A weak smile touched his lips.
“I broke the last rule.”
“What rule?”
“Never love someone enough to die for them.”
Tears mixed with rain on Lena’s face.
“You are not dying for me.”
His breathing became shallow.
“Lena…”
She gripped his hand.
“Focus on my voice.”
His eyes closed.
“Adrien!”
Federal medics rushed toward them.
They pulled Lena back and began working.
One medic cut open Adrien’s shirt.
Another started compressions.
Lena stood frozen while Rosa held her from behind.
After what felt like an eternity, the medic shouted for transport.
“He has a pulse!”
Lena nearly collapsed.
At the hospital, doctors took Adrien into emergency surgery.
Bianca sat across from Lena in the waiting room, still wearing part of the white gown from the staged engagement photographs.
“I never wanted him,” Bianca said quietly.
Lena stared at the floor.
“I know that now.”
“He only agreed to the plan after my father threatened you.”
“That sounds like him.”
“He kept your photograph in his wallet.”
Lena looked up.
“Adrien doesn’t carry photographs.”
“He carried one.”
Bianca handed her a small image.
It had been taken by a security camera at Lavelle.
Lena was asleep in Booth Seven.
On the back, Adrien had written:
THE NIGHT SILENCE FOUND ME.
Hours later, the surgeon entered.
“The bullet missed his heart by less than an inch.”
Lena stood.
“Will he live?”
“He made it through surgery. The next twenty-four hours are critical.”
When Lena entered his room, Adrien lay pale beneath white sheets.
She sat beside him and held his hand.
For the first time, there were no guards, enemies, secrets, or rules between them.
“Come back,” she whispered. “Not as a boss. Not as a Varelli. Just come back as Adrien.”
May you like
His fingers moved faintly around hers.
And for the first time that night, Lena believed he might.
