Chapter 9 - THE CHOICE THAT ENDED THE WAR
I walked outside.
Gabriel tried to stop me.
I looked at him and said one word.
“Trust.”
His hand slowly released mine.
Carlo waited beside the SUV.
No gun visible.
That meant nothing.
“Where's Leo?”
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
He opened the rear door.
Leo sat in a car seat.
Alive.
Frightened.
When he saw me, he reached.
“Elina!”
It wasn't a real word.
More sound than language.
But it shattered me anyway.
I stepped forward.
Carlo closed the door.
“Not yet.”
“What do you want?”
“Your signature.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone wants my signature.”
“You have no idea what that money means.”
“I've lived twenty-six years without it.”
“This isn't about spending.”
“It is for you.”
His face hardened.
“I built that empire.”
“On Lucia's money.”
“I protected it.”
“You imprisoned her.”
His expression flickered.
So he knew.
“You found Lucia.”
“Yes.”
Something almost like fear crossed his face.
Good.
“You lost,” I said.
Carlo stepped closer.
“You think Gabriel will save you?”
“I think I can save myself.”
“You sound like Isabella.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.”
His hand struck my face.
I tasted blood.
Behind the restaurant windows, I saw Gabriel move.
I shook my head slightly.
Not yet.
Carlo hadn't shown us his men.
Leo was still in the vehicle.
We needed time.
“You loved Isabella?” I asked.
Carlo froze.
“In my way.”
“Your way killed her.”
“She chose Gabriel over her family.”
“No. She chose freedom over you.”
His jaw tightened.
I kept him talking.
“You couldn't control Lucia. So you locked her away.”
“She was unstable.”
“You made her unstable.”
“She betrayed me.”
“You say that about every woman who stops obeying you.”
His face changed.
I had found the wound.
Men like Carlo called obedience love.
Control loyalty.
Fear respect.
He leaned close.
“You know nothing about family.”
“I know Sofia raised me without ever making me afraid of her.”
He flinched.
“She wasn't your mother.”
“Yes, she was.”
“Blood says otherwise.”
“Blood made Isabella my sister.”
I pointed toward the restaurant.
“Love made her Gabriel's wife.”
Then toward the SUV.
“Love makes Leo our family.”
I looked directly at Carlo.
“What did love ever make you?”
His hand moved.
I saw the gun.
So did Gabriel.
Everything exploded.
Gabriel fired through the broken window.
Carlo ducked.
I ran for the SUV.
Men emerged from surrounding vehicles.
Marco and Matteo opened fire.
I reached Leo.
The door was locked.
“Come on!”
I pulled.
Nothing.
A bullet struck the vehicle.
Leo screamed.
Then Alessandro appeared.
He shot the driver.
Grabbed the keys.
Unlocked the door.
“Take him!”
I pulled Leo into my arms.
He buried his face against me.
“Go!”
Alessandro covered us.
I ran toward the restaurant.
Carlo appeared from behind another vehicle.
His gun aimed at me.
“Elina!”
Gabriel's voice.
I turned.
Carlo fired.
Someone hit me.
I fell.
Leo screamed.
For one horrible second, I thought I'd been shot.
Then I realized Gabriel was on top of me.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
“No.”
He'd taken the bullet.
“No, no, no.”
“I'm fine.”
“You've been shot!”
“Occupational hazard.”
“This isn't funny!”
He smiled through pain.
“Got you yelling.”
I pressed my hand against the wound.
Carlo ran.
Matteo chased him.
Alessandro followed.
Police sirens approached.
This time, federal agents came with them.
The evidence from Isabella's files had finally reached people Renato and Carlo didn't own.
Renato was arrested before dawn at a private airfield.
Carlo disappeared.
For six days.
Gabriel survived surgery.
The bullet passed through his shoulder.
I stayed at the hospital.
Not because anyone asked me.
Because leaving felt impossible.
Leo slept beside his father.
Sometimes beside me.
On the third night, Gabriel woke and found me asleep in the chair.
“You're still here.”
“Disappointed?”
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“Terrified.”
“Of me?”
“Yes.”
I smiled.
“Finally.”
He didn't.
“Elina.”
I knew.
The conversation we'd avoided.
He looked at me.
“I don't know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Want something after Isabella.”
My chest tightened.
“I don't want to replace her.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
He reached for my hand.
“Elina, when I look at you, sometimes I remember her.”
I appreciated the truth even when it hurt.
“But most of the time,” he continued, “I see the woman who insulted me five minutes after meeting me.”
“You were being rude.”
“I see the woman who hit an armed man with a flashlight.”
“He deserved it.”
“I see the woman who walked toward Carlo because my son needed her.”
His fingers tightened around mine.
“I see you.”
My eyes burned.
“That's all I needed.”
He brought my hand to his lips.
Not a kiss exactly.
A promise.
We didn't rush.
There was too much grief.
Too much confusion.
Too many bodies behind us.
Then Carlo made his final move.
On the sixth morning, Lucia disappeared from protective custody.
No forced entry.
No dead guards.
Just a note.
BRING THE ORIGINAL TRUST DOCUMENTS TO DUCA HARBOR.
I stared at it.
“He has her.”
Gabriel stood despite doctor's orders.
“You're not leaving this hospital.”
I gave him a look.
He sighed.
“Right. Forgot who I was talking to.”
The trust documents were held in a federal evidence facility.
We couldn't get them.
But Matteo had an idea.
Copies.
Carlo couldn't verify them until he had time.
We went to the harbor that night.
Federal agents surrounded the area from a distance.
Gabriel wore a sling.
Marco looked furious that either of us was there.
Lucia sat tied to a chair inside an empty warehouse.
Carlo stood behind her.
“Documents.”
I held up the folder.
“Mother first.”
His face twisted at the word mother.
“You've known her a week.”
“And she's still been a better parent than you.”
“Elina,” Lucia warned.
Carlo grabbed her hair.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Touch her again.”
Carlo laughed.
“You're wounded.”
“I only need one hand.”
Carlo looked at me.
“The papers.”
I approached.
He released Lucia.
She walked toward Gabriel.
I handed Carlo the folder.
He opened it.
His face changed.
“These are copies.”
“Yes.”
He raised his gun.
Federal lights flooded the warehouse.
“Carlo Bellandi!”
He grabbed me.
Gun against my head.
Gabriel froze.
“Drop it.”
Gabriel lowered his weapon.
“Elina,” Carlo whispered. “You could have had everything.”
I looked at him.
“I do.”
His brow furrowed.
I looked at Lucia.
At Gabriel.
At Leo waiting safely miles away.
“You just don't understand what everything is.”
Carlo's finger tightened.
Then a gunshot exploded.
I flinched.
Carlo fell.
Not dead.
Shot through the arm.
Behind him stood Alessandro.
Weapon raised.
Federal agents rushed forward.
Carlo screamed as they restrained him.
It was over.
Almost.
As they dragged him away, he looked at me.
“You think this ends because I'm in chains?”
I didn't answer.
He smiled.
“Ask Gabriel what happens when the Bellandi board learns who you are.”
Gabriel's face changed.
I turned.
“What does he mean?”
Gabriel looked toward the folder.
“Elina.”
“What?”
“The trust doesn't just contain money.”
My stomach tightened.
“What else?”
“Controlling interest in Moretti Shipping.”
I stared.
Gabriel continued.
“If you claim your inheritance…”
May you like
He paused.
“You become my boss.”
