Chapter 9 - Blood Doesn't Make a Family. Sacrifice Does.
My mother collapsed into my arms.
Gunfire filled the church.
Luca's men stormed through a second entrance.
He had planned for betrayal.
Of course he had.
Marco dragged Elena behind the altar.
I pressed both hands against Catherine's wound.
"Mom!"
"I'm okay."
"You've been shot!"
"Shoulder."
Blood covered my hands.
Salvatore ran.
Luca chased him.
I wanted to scream at Luca not to go.
Then Catherine grabbed my face.
"Mara."
"Don't talk."
"I need you to hear me."
"Later."
"Now."
Her eyes filled.
"I should have told you."
"Yes."
"I thought ignorance would keep you safe."
"You lied my entire life."
"I know."
"You told me Dad was dead before I was born."
"I know."
"You told me you had no sister."
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
"I know."
I wanted to hate her.
I couldn't.
"Why dragons?"
She gave a broken laugh.
"Antonio had one tattooed over his heart."
I remembered every warning.
She had never feared the dragon itself.
She feared what it represented.
"What was my father like?"
Her expression softened.
"He loved you before you were born."
That hurt more than expected.
"He wanted to bring us home."
"Why didn't he?"
"Because Salvatore threatened you."
Another gunshot echoed below.
Then silence.
Luca returned fifteen minutes later.
Blood on his shirt.
Not his.
"Salvatore?"
"Gone."
"Dead?"
"No."
I saw the fury in his eyes.
"He escaped."
Catherine whispered:
"He'll go to the harbor."
Luca looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because that's where he keeps everything he can't afford the police finding."
"Records?"
"Weapons. Accounts. Judges. Politicians."
Marco smiled grimly.
"Enough to destroy him."
Catherine nodded.
"And enough to destroy the entire Moretti organization."
Luca went quiet.
That was the real choice.
If he released those records, Salvatore fell.
But so could Luca.
His empire.
His allies.
His protection.
Everything.
Elena approached him.
"Do it."
He stared at his wife.
"We could lose everything."
"You already almost lost everything."
She looked toward Noah's photograph on Luca's phone.
"What exactly are you trying to preserve?"
That changed him.
I saw it happen.
Luca took out his phone.
"Marco."
"Boss?"
"Send the location to the federal prosecutor."
Marco blinked.
"All of it?"
"All of it."
Catherine stared.
Luca looked at me.
"I'm ending this."
Not Salvatore.
This.
The entire machine.
For Noah.
For Elena.
Maybe for me.
Three hours later, federal agents raided the harbor.
They found enough evidence to trigger arrests across three states.
Police officers.
Judges.
Businessmen.
Two senators.
And dozens of men connected to Salvatore.
But Salvatore wasn't there.
He had escaped again.
At dawn, Catherine underwent surgery.
She survived.
I sat beside Noah while Luca waited outside her room.
Noah played with my fingers.
Then Luca's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"No."
My stomach tightened.
"What happened?"
He lowered the phone.
"Salvatore took someone."
"Who?"
Luca looked toward Noah.
Then at the empty bassinet beside me.
My blood froze.
I looked down.
Noah was still in my arms.
So who?
May you like
Luca whispered:
"Elena."
