Chapter 6 - A Pact in BloodThe acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air. Leo stirred slightly in Clara’s arms at the deafening sound, letting out a soft whimper before burrowing deeper into her chest. Clara didn't even blink at the corpse lying feet away from her; she had lived too long in the shadows of the underworld to be scared of a dead traitor.
Rico slowly lowered his smoking gun, his knuckles white. He looked down at the blood spreading across the floor, then turned his icy gaze toward Clara.
"You knew this would happen," Rico said, his voice flat. "You walked into my restaurant knowing exactly who I was, baiting me with my own flesh and blood."
"I knew you were a monster," Clara replied fearlessly, adjusting Leo's weight in her arms. "I just wanted to see if there was anything left of a father underneath the suits and the bullets."
Rico walked slowly toward her, stopping just inches away. Up close, Clara could see the raw, jagged scars hidden beneath the immaculate tailoring of his shirt—reminders of a life built on violence.
"If I let you walk out of here with Leo, you'll run," Rico said quietly. "You'll disappear to the other side of the world."
"Try and stop me," she challenged, her chin raised. "You can kill me, Rico. You've killed plenty of innocents before. But if you pull a trigger on me, Leo wakes up, and he'll never forgive you. You'll spend the rest of your life looking at a son who hates you."
Rico stared at her for a long, agonizing moment. For the first time in his life, the capo of the Moretti family was completely checkmated by a twenty-four-year-old waitress with nothing to her name.
"I'm not going to kill you, Clara Vance," Rico said slowly, holstering his weapon. "In fact, you're not going anywhere."
Clara narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"Vincent and his loyalists are still out there. They think Dante is handling things," Rico said, a dangerous, calculating glint returning to his eyes. "If you walk out those doors alone, you're a loose end. They will hunt you down and skin you alive to get to that thumb drive."
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"Then what do you suggest?" she snapped.
"You stay," Rico said flatly. "You move into the Moretti estate tonight. You play the role of Leo's nanny—and my wife's surviving shadow. We finish Vincent together."
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