Chapter 5 – The Broken Chains

Gunfire echoed like thunder in the ruined chapel.

Wood splintered and stone chipped as James fired blindly into the shadows. Luca shielded me with his body, pulling me behind a heavy marble pillar.

“Stay here,” Luca commanded, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.

He slipped into the darkness, moving with the terrifying, silent grace of a man who had spent his life surviving wars.

Through the dust and smoke, I could hear Elena screaming.

“You lied to me!” she shrieked at James. “You were going to leave me here to rot!”

“Shut up and grab the kid!” James yelled back.

I peeked around the marble pillar.

James was trying to untangle Matteo from the broken chair, dragging him backward as a human shield. Elena was grabbing the terrified little girl, pulling her toward the chapel’s rear exit.

Sofia dropped the child’s drawing as she stumbled, crying out for her mother.

We had an answer. The alliance between James and Elena was completely broken.

But it opened a horrifying reality: They were separating. If Elena got out that door with Sofia, Matteo would never see his daughter again.

I couldn’t let that happen.

I didn’t have a gun, but I knew the man who had lied to me for six years. I knew his blind spots.

I grabbed a heavy brass candlestick from the floor and sprinted out from behind the pillar, running directly toward the rear exit to cut Elena off.

“Emily, no!” Luca shouted from the darkness.

Elena saw me coming. She dropped Sofia’s hand and reached into her coat.

She pulled out a small, silver revolver.

“You pathetic little maid,” Elena sneered, aiming right at my face.

Before she could pull the trigger, a massive shadow slammed into her from the side.

It was Matteo.

Despite being starved and beaten, the adrenaline of seeing his daughter in danger gave him the strength of a madman. He tackled his “dead” wife to the stone floor.

The gun went off, the bullet shattering a stained-glass window above us.

“Sofia, run!” Matteo roared, pinning Elena down.

The little girl stood frozen in terror.

I dropped the candlestick and scooped Sofia into my arms. She buried her face in my shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

“I’ve got you,” I whispered, turning to run back toward Luca.

But James was suddenly blocking my path.

He had lost his gun in the chaos, but he held a wicked-looking hunting knife. His eyes were wild, desperate.

“Put the kid down, Em,” James panted, raising the knife. “She’s my only ticket out of this city.”

Reversal.

James didn’t care about Elena or Valentina. He only cared about the leverage the child provided. He was willing to kill his own wife to get it.

“You’re not touching her,” I said, stepping backward, holding the child tight against my chest.

James lunged.

I braced for the impact, turning my body to protect the little girl.

But the impact never came.

A hand shot out from the darkness, grabbing James by the throat.

It was Luca.

Luca lifted James off the ground single-handedly. James choked, dropping the knife as his hands scrambled desperately at Luca’s iron grip.

“You made a mistake coming into my house,” Luca whispered, his eyes entirely black. “You made a bigger mistake touching my family.”

Luca threw James backward with terrifying force.

James crashed into the heavy stone baptismal font. His head cracked against the marble with a sickening thud.

He slid to the floor, unconscious.

Silence fell over the chapel, broken only by Elena’s frantic struggling.

Matteo held her down, his chest heaving, tears streaming down his bruised face.

“It’s over, Elena,” Matteo choked out. “You’re done.”

Elena looked up at him, her beautiful face twisted into a mask of pure malice.

She didn’t scream. She didn’t beg.

She just smiled.

“You think this is over?” Elena whispered, reaching into her pocket.

She pulled out a small, heavy family heirloom—a silver lighter with the Moretti family crest.

“Valentina wasn’t just paying us,” Elena laughed. “She was insuring us.”

She flicked the lighter open.

And tossed it into the thick pool of gasoline she had poured around the altar before we arrived.

TITLE: The Fire Of Truth

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