Chapter 9 - The Ultimate ChoiceMoretti cocked the hammer of his pistol, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Drop your weapon, Bellamy! Or I blow her brains all over this dock right now!"
From behind a stack of steel drums twenty feet away, Tristan stepped out into the open courtyard. His pistol was lowered to his side, but the look in his eyes was pure, unadulterated hellfire.
"Let her go, Vincenzo," Tristan said, his voice terrifyingly calm, carrying across the silent yard as the gunfire around them died down. "This is between you and me."
"It was between us until you brought an innocent civilian into our war," Moretti snarled, pressing the barrel harder against Bianca’s temple. "Drop your gun, Bellamy! On your knees!"
Bianca looked at Tristan, her eyes wide with terror, shaking her head frantically. Don't do it, her eyes pleaded. Don't give him the victory.
Tristan didn't hesitate.
With slow, deliberate movements, he dropped his Sig Sauer onto the concrete and sank slowly onto his knees, raising his empty hands. The most feared criminal kingpin in New York had just surrendered—all for her.
Moretti threw his head back and laughed, a loud, triumphant sound that echoed off the warehouse walls. "Look at you! The great Tristan Bellamy, begging for a woman's life! You're weak—"
Moretti never finished the sentence.
From the shadows of the crane boom high above, a laser dot flickered across Moretti’s forehead. A split second later, a single, muffled crack echoed through the yard.
Moretti’s eyes went wide. The pistol slipped from his fingers as a clean bullet hole appeared right between his eyes, and he collapsed backward onto the concrete, dead before he hit the ground.
Silence fell over the pier.
Tristan didn't wait a second. He sprang off his knees with cat-like speed, lunged forward, and pulled Bianca into his arms, shielding her body with his own as more enforcers swarmed the area to secure the perimeter.
"Are you okay? Did he touch you?" Tristan demanded frantically, his hands gripping her face, checking every inch of her skin for injuries.
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"I'm fine... I'm okay," Bianca sobbed, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. "You idiot... you gave up your gun..."
"I'd give up my entire empire, Bianca," Tristan whispered fiercely against her hair, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. "A thousand times over, I'd give it all up for you."
