Chapter 6 - A Price Written in Blood
When the smoke cleared, I was lying on the floor, my ears ringing violently. Strong hands dragged me toward the cellar door. Marcus was shouting, firing his rifle blind into the corridor.
Through the haze, I saw Dante fighting like a madman, grappling with two tactical enforcers near the shattered balcony. An older man with slicked-back gray hair and a silver cane walked calmly into the room through the smoke—Valerio Moretti.
“Six years, nephew,” Valerio purred, raising a gold-plated revolver. “You built an empire just to burn it down for a hospital nurse.”
“Touch them and I’ll tear your throat out with my teeth,” Dante spat, bleeding from three different wounds.
Valerio chuckled, glancing down the hallway toward the nursery where Mia’s screams were now echoing. “The little girl has your eyes, Dante. Did you really think my men didn't run the DNA on the blood sample your nurse left at the ER tonight? She’s a Moretti. And no Moretti bastard lives to inherit my throne.”
Valerio pointed the gun toward the nursery corridor.
May you like
Something inside me snapped. The hippocratic oath, six years of medical ethics, my fear—it all evaporated. I grabbed a heavy brass statue from the side table and swung it with all the strength in my body, striking Valerio across the side of his head.
Valerio stumbled back, dropping the revolver. Dante didn't hesitate. He tackled his uncle through the shattered floor-to-ceiling window, both men plunging into the darkness of the courtyard two stories below.
