Chapter 8 - Peter dropped.Blood spread across his chest.
Adrian fired instinctively.
Luca dove behind a concrete barrier.
The warehouse erupted in gunfire.
Alexander dragged me behind a shipping crate.
“Stay down!”
“Is Peter dead?”
“No.”
Adrian shouted:
“LUCA!”
His bodyguard answered from the darkness.
“I never wanted this.”
Adrian's voice became a growl.
“You just shot a man in front of me.”
“He deserved worse.”
“You were working for them.”
“For your family.”
The words hung in the air.
Luca emerged slowly.
His weapon was gone.
Adrian raised his.
“Explain.”
Luca looked exhausted.
“My father worked for Vittorio.”
Adrian didn't blink.
“When I was fourteen, I was taken to the cellar.”
Adrian's eyes widened.
“I remember.”
Luca nodded.
“You and Alexander were there.”
A memory flickered across Adrian's face.
Thunder.
Smoke.
A boy crying.
A door opening.
Luca continued.
“They told me to choose which one of you would be taken.”
Alexander stared at him.
“You chose me.”
“Yes.”
Adrian lowered the gun.
“Why?”
“Because they said Alexander was expendable.”
Peter coughed from the floor.
Everyone looked down.
He was still alive.
“You're still lying,” Peter whispered.
Luca turned.
Peter laughed weakly.
“You didn't choose Alexander.”
Luca's face went rigid.
“You chose Adrian.”
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
Peter continued.
“Luca was the reason you survived.”
“Shut up.”
“You remember the storm.”
Luca's eyes darkened.
“You were the little lion.”
Adrian's breathing became uneven.
Peter coughed blood.
“Your mother gave Luca one order.”
“What order?”
“Protect Adrian.”
I looked at Luca.
“Then why did you shoot Peter?”
He answered:
“Because Peter ordered the hit on Eleanor.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You said she was safe.”
“She isn't.”
“Where is she?”
Luca looked toward Alexander.
“She trusted the wrong person again.”
Alexander's expression changed.
Then he whispered:
“No.”
Luca nodded.
“She thought I was protecting Adrian.”
He looked at me.
“But I've been protecting something else.”
“What?”
“The drive.”
I stared at him.
Luca reached into his jacket.
He removed a second black USB.
Identical to ours.
Adrian froze.
“Where did you get that?”
“From Eleanor.”
He held it toward me.
“She told me to give it to Clara.”
I didn't move.
“Why me?”
“Because your father chose you.”
“What did he choose me for?”
Luca looked at Adrian.
“To finish what Eleanor couldn't.”
Suddenly, Peter spoke.
“Don't open it.”
Everyone turned.
Peter was smiling.
“That's the wrong drive.”
Adrian looked at Luca.
“What is on it?”
Luca didn't answer.
Peter whispered:
“The location of everyone Eleanor ever trusted.”
His eyes locked onto me.
“And the names of everyone who betrayed her.”
I took the drive.
It felt heavier than the first.
Then the warehouse lights came on.
Sirens sounded outside.
Police.
Dozens of vehicles.
Adrian looked toward the windows.
“How?”
Luca's expression changed.
“We're surrounded.”
Alexander moved toward the back exit.
“No.”
A voice came through the loudspeaker.
“Adrian Moretti, step away from the weapons.”
Adrian looked at me.
“Who called them?”
I stared at the USB.
The answer was suddenly obvious.
Someone wanted the police here.
Someone wanted everyone in one place.
I whispered:
“The drive.”
Adrian frowned.
I shook my head.
“No.”
I looked at the second USB.
“Both drives are transmitting.”
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And then every phone in the warehouse received the same message.
YOU HAVE 17 MINUTES.
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