Chapter 7 - Midnight BrideCarlo pushed Gabriel into the room.
Victor raised his gun.
Carlo smiled.
“Put it down.”
Victor didn't.
Carlo pressed the barrel harder against Gabriel's temple.
“Now.”
Victor slowly lowered his weapon.
Elena whispered, “Victor, don't.”
Carlo looked at her.
“Still protecting him?”
Victor stared.
“Let Gabriel go.”
“After the wedding.”
“What wedding?”
“The one you will attend tomorrow.”
Carlo tossed a black invitation onto the table.
Victor didn't touch it.
“I will never marry Isabella Bellandi.”
Carlo laughed.
“You misunderstood.”
“I’m not marrying anyone.”
“Of course you are.”
Carlo turned to Elena.
“You are.”
Elena went still.
Victor stepped between them.
“No.”
Carlo smiled.
“A Russo marrying a Marlow.”
Daniel stiffened.
“A symbolic union.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone will attend.”
Carlo lifted his gaze.
“And everyone will die.”
Victor's expression hardened.
Carlo continued.
“The police will blame the Bellandis. The Bellandis will blame the Russo family. The media will blame you. And the ledger will disappear.”
Victor understood.
“You want a war.”
“I want a clean slate.”
“And Gabriel?”
“A guarantee.”
Carlo dragged him away.
Before leaving, he looked at Elena.
“Tomorrow night, wear white.”
The doors closed.
Gabriel's voice came faintly from the hallway.
“Don't…”
Victor ran after them.
Too late.
The garage was empty.
His entire security team was dead.
Only one message remained painted across the wall.
MIDNIGHT.
Elena stared.
“He wants me to marry you.”
Victor looked at her.
“He wants to put us in a room with everyone we've ever known.”
“And kill us.”
“Yes.”
Elena was silent.
Then she whispered:
“Then let him.”
Victor frowned.
“What?”
“We go.”
“No.”
“We go.”
“That's suicide.”
“Only if we play by his rules.”
She looked at Daniel.
“How many exits are there from the Russo chapel?”
Daniel thought.
“Three.”
“How many does Carlo know?”
“All three.”
Elena nodded.
“Then we create a fourth.”
Victor stared at her.
“You have a plan.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I have a reason to survive.”
The wedding began at eleven fifty.
The church was packed.
Russo soldiers.
Bellandi soldiers.
Judges.
Politicians.
Businessmen.
People who had spent decades pretending they didn't know each other's secrets.
Elena walked down the aisle in a white dress.
Victor waited at the altar.
Their eyes met.
Neither smiled.
The priest began.
Then the doors slammed shut.
Everyone turned.
A voice came through hidden speakers.
“Welcome to the end of the Russo family.”
Carlo's face appeared on a large screen.
Victor's blood ran cold.
Behind Carlo stood Gabriel.
Bound.
Beside him stood Teresa.
And next to Teresa was Matteo.
Alive.
Elena stared at the screen.
Matteo looked directly into the camera.
His lips moved.
Run.
Victor understood.
The floor beneath the altar clicked.
Elena looked down.
A red light began blinking.
Victor grabbed her.
“Move!”
The chapel exploded in gunfire.
People screamed.
The windows shattered.
Victor pulled Elena behind the altar.
Daniel fired back.
Isabella and the Bellandi guards returned fire.
The lights went out.
Again.
Victor heard Teresa's voice over the speakers.
“Find the girl.”
Footsteps surrounded them.
Elena whispered:
“The fourth exit.”
Victor looked at her.
She pointed beneath the altar.
He pulled away the wooden panel.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
They jumped through.
Then the floor above them collapsed.
Elena looked at Victor.
“We're not at a wedding anymore.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
May you like
He looked into the underground tunnel.
“We're inside Carlo's grave.”
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