Chapter 6 – THE SACRIFICE AND THE SHIELD
The blast tore through the rain.
But the bullet didn’t hit my mother.
Walter had thrown his frail, seventy-four-year-old body across the wheelchair. The bullet caught him in the shoulder, spinning him violently to the wet asphalt.
“WALTER!” Luca roared.
Before Carmine could fire again, Luca squeezed his trigger twice.
Carmine gasped, dropping his weapon, and fell backward onto the driveway, clutching his chest.
Vanessa screamed, dropping the portfolio, and fell to her knees beside her father. The Bellini men didn’t raise their guns. They watched their former boss bleed on the concrete, then silently placed their weapons on the ground, surrendering to the authority of Walter’s gold ring.
I dropped the shotgun and sprinted to my mother. “Mom! Mom, are you hurt?”
“I’m okay, Hannah, I’m okay,” she sobbed, pulling my face into her hands. “But the old man…”
I knelt beside Walter. Blood was pooling beneath his black driver’s uniform, mixing with the rain. His breath came in shallow, ragged gasps.
“Walter,” I cried, pressing my hands over the wound to stop the bleeding. “Hold on, please! The ambulance is coming!”
Luca dropped to his knees on Walter’s other side, his face pale. “You foolish old man. Why did you do that?”
Walter offered a weak, bloodstained smile. “I promised… I promised your father I’d protect the girl. And I always… keep my promises.”
“You’re going to make it,” Luca said fiercely, his voice cracking. “Do you hear me? You have to take Rosie dancing.”
Walter’s eyes fluttered. He reached up with a trembling, blood-soaked hand and grabbed Luca’s lapel.
“The letter,” Walter wheezed, his eyes losing focus.
“What letter?” Luca asked.
“In the lockbox,” Walter coughed, a thin line of blood spilling from his lips. “Salvatore didn’t just hide… the birth certificate. He left… a letter. About Daniel. You have to… read it.”
His hand went limp. His eyes closed.
“Walter!” I screamed.
Paramedics rushed through the gates, pushing me back. They loaded Walter onto a stretcher, pressing oxygen to his face. I held my mother’s hand as we watched the ambulance speed away into the night, the sirens wailing.
The police arrived, sweeping up Carmine and the rest of his men. Vanessa was handcuffed, her silk dress stained with mud and her father’s blood. She glared at me as she was pushed into a squad car.
“This isn’t over, Hannah,” she hissed.
“Yes, it is,” Luca said coldly, shutting the car door in her face.
The estate fell quiet, save for the rain.
Luca walked over to the copper lockbox lying on the ground. He opened it. Beneath the baby blanket, hidden in the copper lining, was a sealed white envelope.
Luca tore it open. He read the letter in the glow of the police lights.
As he read, the color completely drained from his face.
He looked up at me, his eyes wide with a terror I had never seen in him.
“Luca?” I asked, trembling in the cold. “What does it say?”
Luca looked toward the main house. The massive mansion loomed in the darkness.
“My father didn’t hide your mother from Carmine,” Luca whispered.
“What?”
“Carmine was just a pawn,” Luca said, his voice shaking. “My father hid your mother from Daniel. Daniel isn’t just the head of security, Hannah. He’s my father’s illegitimate brother. And he’s been orchestrating this entire war to wipe out both our families.”
Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the estate.
The windows of the main mansion blew outward in a shower of glass and fire. The ground shook violently, throwing my mother and me to the asphalt.
Flames shot into the sky, illuminating the night.
“Daniel,” Luca breathed, staring at the burning house.
And then, my phone rang.
I looked at the cracked screen. It was Daniel’s number.
I answered it, putting it on speaker.
“Hello, Hannah,” Daniel’s voice purred over the sound of crackling flames. “I see you survived the driveway. A pity about Walter. But don’t celebrate yet.”
“What do you want?” Luca yelled at the phone.
“I want my inheritance, Luca,” Daniel sneered. “And I have the one thing you both need to give it to me.”
“We have nothing to give you!” I cried.
“Oh, really?” Daniel laughed, a cruel, echoing sound. “Look toward the south gardens, Hannah.”
I turned my head.
Through the trees, illuminated by the burning mansion, I saw Daniel standing near the ruins of Walter’s cottage.
And standing in front of him, with Daniel’s gun pressed to the back of her head, was Rosie.
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