Chapter 7 - THE UNCLE IN THE SHADOWS"Who... who are you?" I demanded, raising the heavy pistol with both hands, though my arms shook so badly I could barely keep the sights aligned on his chest.
The man held up his hands slowly, palms out, a bitter, weary smile touching his lips.
"Lower the gun, Hannah. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't have made it past the bridge," he said, taking a slow step forward. "My name is Julian Moretti. Victor's older brother. The one the family said died in a car bombing twenty years ago."
I stared at him, my mind spinning into complete chaos. "That's impossible! Victor said Dante was the old Don, and that he died! He didn't say anything about another brother!"
"Victor told you what fit his narrative," Julian replied, his gray eyes flashing with a dangerous intensity. "Victor isn't the saint who protected you tonight, Hannah. He’s the one who orchestrated the coup that forced your mother into hiding in the first place."
The ground beneath my feet felt like it was crumbling away. "What are you talking about?"
"Twenty years ago, when Dante tried to step down from the syndicate to give Elena and our family a normal life, Victor didn't want peace. He wanted power," Julian said, stepping closer until the amber light illuminated the harsh scars running down the side of his neck. "He staged the bombing that supposedly killed me. He branded your mother a traitor so he could seize absolute control of the council."
"You're lying," I choked out, though the pieces were starting to fit together in a terrifying, horrifying puzzle. "Victor saved us tonight! He put his own life on the line!"
"He saved the heir," Julian corrected sharply. "Without Lily, Victor has no legitimate claim to the inner council's golden treasury. The elders only respect direct bloodline succession. Victor didn't protect you out of love, Hannah. He protected you because your daughter is the golden key to his entire empire."
Before I could process his words, a blinding wall of white light suddenly washed over the pier.
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The heavy thrum of multiple helicopter rotors drowned out the howling wind. Four black tactical choppers descended out of the clouds, their searchlights locking directly onto us.
Through a megaphone from the lead chopper, Marcus Vance’s voice echoed across the water: "Surround the pier! Take the mother and the child alive. Kill Julian on sight!"
