Chapter 7 - A Bullet Meant for the Boss
Antonio Moretti walked into the hospital room alive.
Luca pointed a gun at his own father.
Hazel decided her definition of a complicated family had officially changed.
Antonio explained his death had been staged after Evelyn attempted to assassinate him.
Only three people knew.
Luca was not one of them.
The betrayal in Luca’s face was unmistakable.
“You let Sofia bury you.”
“I protected her.”
“You let us mourn you.”
“I kept you alive.”
Hazel understood Luca differently then.
Everyone around him used love as an excuse for secrecy.
Just like her family.
Antonio revealed the Halcyon password.
Luca’s mother had called him Luce.
Light.
The irony made Hazel laugh.
Luca did not appreciate it.
Using the code, they accessed only one part of the account.
Not the money.
A message from Thomas.
Hazel watched her father on an old video.
“If you found this, Hazel, then people are probably telling you the money matters.”
He smiled.
“It doesn’t.”
Hazel cried.
“The ledger matters. It contains every judge, officer, businessman, and criminal who bought protection from Halcyon.”
Thomas had built a kill switch.
If Hazel died, the files would automatically be released.
That explained the strange contradiction.
People wanted her dead.
But some desperately needed her alive.
She was both target and shield.
Luca sat beside her.
“We can end this.”
“How?”
“Release everything.”
“That destroys your family too.”
“Yes.”
Hazel looked at him.
“You’d do that?”
“If the alternative is keeping you trapped in this forever.”
Something inside her shifted.
Daniel had sacrificed her to save himself.
Luca was willing to sacrifice his empire to save her.
The difference was impossible to ignore.
Hazel reached for his hand.
Luca looked down.
Then at her.
Their fingers intertwined.
No ring.
No claim.
Just choice.
A shot shattered the window.
Antonio collapsed.
Luca dragged Hazel down.
Another shot struck the wall.
Security rushed in.
Antonio was bleeding badly.
But alive.
On the opposite rooftop, the sniper vanished.
A phone had been left behind.
One message appeared.
BRING HAZEL TO THE OLD MORETTI WAREHOUSE.
COME ALONE.
Then another photograph loaded.
Sofia.
Bound to a chair.
May you like
Daniel beside her.
And behind both of them stood Evelyn, smiling.
