Chapter 8 - DANIEL’S LAST NIGHT
The address belonged to an old church on the west side.
Abandoned.
Boarded windows.
Graffiti across the brick.
Alessandro parked one block away.
Sophia sat beside him.
“You really came alone?”
“No.”
She looked around.
“I don’t see anyone.”
“That’s intentional.”
Marco’s people were positioned across surrounding buildings.
Sophia shook her head.
“Remind me never to play hide-and-seek with you.”
“Emma would still win.”
That surprised a laugh from her.
Then guilt erased it.
Daniel’s ring was somewhere inside.
The man who might have killed him was waiting.
Alessandro checked the weapon beneath his coat.
Sophia noticed.
“You expect trouble?”
“I expect Luca.”
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
“Yes.”
They entered.
The church smelled of dust.
Broken stained glass scattered weak colors across the floor.
Luca Moretti sat in the front pew.
He looked nothing like Alessandro.
Same dark hair.
Same height.
But where Alessandro was controlled, Luca seemed restless.
Expensive coat.
Unshaven jaw.
Eyes that never stopped moving.
“You brought her.”
“You knew I would.”
Luca smiled at Sophia.
“Daniel talked about you constantly.”
She felt sick.
“Don’t say his name like you knew him.”
“I did know him.”
“You murdered him.”
Luca looked offended.
“That is a strong accusation.”
“You have his ring.”
He held it up.
Gold caught the pale light.
Sophia’s breath stopped.
She remembered sliding that ring onto Daniel’s finger.
He had whispered, “Too late to run now.”
She had laughed.
Now Luca dangled it like a coin.
Alessandro’s voice lowered.
“Give it to her.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m asking once.”
Luca tossed it.
Sophia caught it badly.
The ring hit the floor.
She dropped to her knees and picked it up.
Her hands trembled.
Daniel Carter.
Beloved husband.
Liar.
Father.
Dead man.
Every version existed inside that small circle of gold.
“Tell me what happened,” she whispered.
Luca leaned back.
“Daniel discovered our accounts.”
“Our?”
“Mine and Matteo’s.”
“You killed him.”
“I told him to forget what he saw.”
Sophia looked up.
“He refused.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Luca smiled slightly.
“He became emotional.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“Answer.”
Luca’s smile disappeared.
“We met near Lower Wacker. Daniel said he had copied everything. I told him we could work something out.”
“And?” Sophia asked.
“He said he was done.”
“With you?”
“With all of us.”
Luca looked at Alessandro.
“He thought he could take evidence to federal investigators and disappear.”
Sophia’s nails dug into her palm.
“He had a wife and baby.”
“Exactly.”
Luca shrugged.
“He should have considered them.”
Alessandro moved faster than Sophia expected.
He grabbed Luca by the coat and slammed him into the pew.
Wood cracked.
“You don’t get to say that.”
Luca laughed despite the impact.
“Look at you.”
Alessandro’s grip tightened.
“A housekeeper and her kid made you sentimental.”
Sophia stepped forward.
“What happened to Daniel?”
Luca’s eyes shifted to her.
“He ran.”
“From you?”
“Yes.”
“He crashed?”
Luca was silent.
She knew.
“You forced him off the road.”
“I didn’t touch his car.”
“What did you do?”
Luca smiled.
“I fired through the rear window.”
Sophia stopped breathing.
Alessandro released him.
Not from mercy.
Because Sophia walked closer.
“You shot at my husband while he was driving.”
Luca shrugged.
“One round.”
“His car went through the barrier.”
“Yes.”
“And you left him there.”
“Yes.”
Sophia slapped him.
Then again.
Then again.
Luca grabbed her wrist.
Alessandro immediately put a gun against his neck.
“Release her.”
Luca did.
Sophia backed away.
Tears ran down her face.
“He died alone.”
Luca’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
“No.”
Sophia froze.
“What?”
“He was alive when I reached the car.”
The church seemed to disappear.
“What did he say?”
Luca looked at her.
Sophia’s voice broke.
“What did my husband say?”
Luca smiled.
“He said Emma’s name.”
Sophia folded.
Alessandro caught her before she hit the floor.
Luca continued.
“Then yours.”
“Stop.”
Alessandro’s voice was dangerous.
But Sophia shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Luca.
“Keep going.”
“He told me I wouldn’t find the evidence.”
“What else?”
“That was it.”
“Did you help him?”
“No.”
“Did you call an ambulance?”
“No.”
“Did you watch him die?”
Luca didn’t answer.
That answer was worse.
Sophia started crying.
Quietly.
Not theatrically.
The kind of crying that seemed pulled from somewhere much deeper than tears.
Alessandro had seen people beg for their lives.
He had seen mothers identify dead sons.
He had seen men collapse after losing everything.
This hurt differently.
Because he could not fix it.
He could kill Luca.
But Daniel would remain dead.
He lowered his weapon.
Sophia looked at him.
“Don’t.”
Alessandro’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t kill him.”
Luca smiled.
“Listen to your maid.”
Sophia turned.
“I’m not protecting you.”
She looked back at Alessandro.
“If you kill him here, Daniel becomes one more excuse for violence.”
Her voice steadied.
“I want him arrested.”
Luca laughed.
“By who?”
Sophia reached into her coat.
She removed a small recorder Marco had given her.
Luca’s face changed.
Everything he had said was captured.
His confession.
The shooting.
Leaving Daniel alive.
Luca stood.
“You stupid—”
Alessandro stepped between them.
“You’re finished.”
Luca looked toward the doors.
He whistled.
Armed men appeared in the balcony.
Alessandro did not react.
Luca smiled.
“You thought I came alone?”
Alessandro touched his ear.
“No.”
Windows exploded inward.
Marco’s team entered.
Within seconds the church filled with shouting.
Luca ran toward the altar.
Sophia stayed behind Alessandro.
A gunman fired.
Alessandro pushed her down.
Marco tackled the shooter.
Luca reached a side door.
Bruno appeared there.
Everybody froze.
The huge dog wore a medical wrap around his shoulder.
Richard would have had a heart attack.
Emma was not with him.
Marco had apparently brought Bruno in the backup vehicle and lost the argument about keeping him there.
Luca stared.
“Seriously?”
Bruno growled.
Luca raised his gun.
“Don’t,” Sophia whispered.
He did.
Bruno lunged.
Alessandro fired first.
The bullet hit Luca’s shoulder.
His gun fell.
Bruno stopped inches from his face.
Teeth exposed.
Luca screamed.
Sophia walked over.
Bruno glanced at her.
She placed one hand on his neck.
“No.”
The dog backed away.
Police sirens approached outside.
Real police.
Marco had arranged it.
Luca looked shocked.
“You called cops?”
Alessandro straightened his coat.
“Apparently I’m developing new habits.”
Sophia almost smiled.
Luca was arrested.
Not because Alessandro’s world had suddenly become legal.
But because some crimes needed witnesses.
Some truths needed courtrooms.
And some dead men deserved more than revenge.
As officers dragged Luca away, he looked back.
“You think this ends with me?”
Alessandro’s expression sharpened.
Luca smiled despite the blood on his shirt.
“You still don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Matteo wasn’t trying to take your empire.”
Alessandro said nothing.
Luca laughed.
“He was trying to burn it.”
Hours later, they returned to the estate.
Marco met them at the gate.
His face told Alessandro immediately that Luca had not been bluffing.
“What happened?”
Marco handed him a phone.
Every major Moretti account had been exposed.
Addresses.
Businesses.
Political connections.
Financial records.
Anonymous files had been sent to federal investigators and several newspapers.
By morning, Alessandro Moretti would not merely be fighting traitors.
He would be fighting the law.
And this time, hiding inside the empire might destroy everyone near him.
Including Sophia.
Including Emma.
He looked toward the house.
Bruno limped toward the cottage.
Emma ran from the porch.
“Bruno!”
The dog forgot his pain and went to her.
Alessandro watched them.
May you like
Then made the hardest decision of his life.
Sophia and Emma could no longer remain with him.
