Chapter 6 - The Last War of the DeLuca Family
The news claimed Adrian had escaped.
Emily knew better.
He would never destroy the progress he had made or abandon the possibility of a future outside prison. Vance had taken him.
A burner phone rang on Emily’s kitchen table.
Adrian’s voice came through, strained and distant.
“Emily.”
“Where are you?”
“Listen carefully. Do not look for me.”
“Are you hurt?”
A pause answered her.
Vance took the phone.
“Midnight. Pier Seventeen. Bring the original financial archives and the transfer authorization for the foundation.”
“You know I can’t transfer the money alone.”
“You can provide access. Adrian will provide the remaining signatures.”
“He has no authority while incarcerated.”
“His companies still recognize emergency succession codes. Your beloved devil built his kingdom carefully.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“What about Rosa?”
“She and Adrian are enjoying a family reunion.”
A blow sounded in the background.
Adrian groaned.
Emily tightened her grip on the phone. “Touch him again, and I publish everything.”
Vance laughed. “You still think truth frightens men like me. Truth is only valuable when people survive long enough to speak it.”
The call ended.
Emily contacted the FBI task-force leader, Agent Naomi Brooks. Together they planned surveillance around the pier. But Emily knew Vance would detect official vehicles and radio signals. She needed another advantage.
Sophia provided it.
“My uncle gave me something before he went to prison,” the girl said.
She opened a jewelry box and removed a black signet ring. Inside was a tiny tracking transmitter designed for emergencies.
“Adrian is wearing this?”
Sophia shook her head. “Aunt Rosa is.”
The signal placed them aboard a cargo vessel preparing to leave New York Harbor.
Vance had lied about the pier.
He expected Emily to arrive at Pier Seventeen while he moved Adrian and Rosa onto international waters.
Emily informed Agent Brooks, then boarded a harbor service boat with two federal officers. A storm had begun over the city, churning the river beneath dark clouds.
The cargo ship moved toward open water.
Emily’s boat approached from behind while federal helicopters remained distant to avoid detection. She climbed a maintenance ladder onto the lower deck, wearing a life vest beneath a dark coat.
Inside the vessel, Adrian sat chained to a metal chair. His face was bruised, and blood darkened his shirt. Rosa sat across from him.
Vance paced between them.
“You could have remained a king,” he told Adrian. “Instead, you surrendered to people who will always see you as an animal.”
“I was an animal.”
“You were powerful.”
“The two are not the same.”
Vance crouched before him. “Emily made you weak.”
Adrian smiled through a split lip. “Emily made me understand how weak I had always been.”
Vance struck him.
Rosa rolled her eyes. “Men like you always become violent when conversations exceed your intelligence.”
Vance turned toward her.
Adrian surged against the chains. “Touch her and I’ll tear your throat out.”
Vance laughed. “There he is.”
An alarm sounded from the lower deck.
Emily had triggered a fire warning to draw guards away from the engine room. She moved through narrow corridors, following the tracking signal.
One of Vance’s men found her near the stairs.
He grabbed her from behind, but Emily drove her elbow into his ribs and used the emergency medical scissors in her pocket to cut the strap of his weapon. They struggled until Agent Brooks appeared and struck him down.
“Stay behind us,” Brooks ordered.
Emily nodded, then immediately moved ahead when gunfire erupted.
In the cargo hold, Vance placed a gun against Rosa’s head.
Adrian had broken one wrist free from the chains, tearing skin from his hand.
Emily entered from the upper walkway.
“Let them go.”
Vance looked up. “You came.”
“I brought the access codes.”
She held a drive above the railing.
“Throw it down.”
“Release Rosa.”
Vance fired at the railing beside her. “You are in no position to negotiate.”
Emily dropped the drive.
It landed near Adrian.
Vance ordered a guard to retrieve it.
Adrian kicked the man’s knee, seized his weapon, and fired into the overhead lights.
Darkness swallowed the cargo hold.
Federal agents stormed the lower entrance.
Rosa dropped to the floor while Adrian attacked Vance. The two men crashed into stacked containers. Vance struck Adrian’s injured side repeatedly, then reached for a fallen pistol.
Emily saw it first.
“Adrian!”
She jumped from the lower platform and shoved the weapon away.
Vance grabbed her, wrapping one arm around her throat. He dragged her toward the open cargo door at the ship’s stern, where black water roared below.
Adrian stopped.
Vance pressed a knife beneath Emily’s chin. “Drop the gun.”
Adrian obeyed.
“You see?” Vance whispered to Emily. “The great Adrian DeLuca on his knees for a woman.”
Adrian lowered himself slowly.
Vance smiled. “Pathetic.”
“No,” Adrian said. “Free.”
Emily stomped on Vance’s foot and drove her head backward into his face. He released her for half a second.
Adrian lunged.
All three crashed against the open doorway.
Vance slipped over the edge, catching a steel cable with one hand. Adrian caught Emily before she followed.
Vance dangled above the freezing water.
“Help me!” he screamed.
Adrian looked down at the man who had kidnapped his family, attacked prison guards, and rebuilt Moretti’s network.
Emily watched Adrian’s face.
This was the choice that defined him.
Adrian reached down.
Vance grabbed his hand—then pulled a hidden blade and tried to stab him.
Agent Brooks fired.
The blade fell into the water.
Agents hauled Vance back aboard and placed him in handcuffs.
Adrian sat against the wall, exhausted. Emily knelt before him.
“You came after me,” he said.
“You sound surprised.”
“I specifically told you not to.”
“You should know by now how little that helps.”
He laughed, then winced.
Rosa approached with a blanket around her shoulders. “As charming as this reunion is, the ship is still moving.”
Federal officers secured the bridge and returned the vessel to harbor.
Vance’s arrest exposed the last major network attempting to rebuild the Moretti organization. His files also proved Adrian had been abducted and had actively helped federal authorities during the rescue.
The Department of Justice reviewed Adrian’s case.
His cooperation, conduct in prison, assistance during the hostage operation, and the recovery of stolen public funds led to an extraordinary recommendation: reduction of his remaining sentence.
Six weeks later, Emily stood outside a federal courthouse surrounded by reporters.
Adrian appeared at the top of the steps in a dark suit. No guards held his arms. No handcuffs circled his wrists.
He was free.
He descended slowly, ignoring every shouted question.
Emily waited at the bottom.
Neither moved for a moment.
“You cut your hair,” Adrian said.
“You were gone four years, and that’s your first observation?”
“I had several speeches prepared. They disappeared when I saw you.”
Emily smiled through tears.
Adrian stopped before her. “I meant what I said. You never owed me your waiting.”
“I didn’t wait.”
His expression fell slightly.
“I lived,” she continued. “I built hospitals. I fought corrupt businessmen. I got kidnapped less often than you did, but not by much.”
A laugh moved through the reporters.
Emily took his hand.
“And every day I chose whether I still loved you.”
Adrian’s voice lowered. “What did you choose today?”
She kissed him in front of the courthouse, cameras, agents, and half of New York.
When they separated, Adrian rested his forehead against hers.
“What happens now?” he asked.
“Now you learn how to live without an empire.”
He looked toward the city skyline.
“Can I keep one building?”
“No.”
“One car?”
“We’ll discuss it.”
“One armed driver?”
“Absolutely not.”
Behind them, Rosa called, “He is keeping the driver.”
Emily laughed.
For the first time, Adrian DeLuca walked through New York without anyone fearing the consequences of standing in his path.
He had lost his criminal empire.
Yet as Emily held his hand, he felt richer than he had ever been.
But one promise remained unfinished.
May you like
A cabin still waited in the mountains.
And Adrian had spent four years planning exactly how he would repay the woman who had saved him in the snow.
