Chapter 9 - Checkmate
Julian spun around, dropping the leather bag, his face turning paper-white as he stared at his nephew standing in the doorway with an assault rifle raised.
Sophia Bellandi let out a sharp shriek, stumbling backward into her father, who slowly raised his hands into the air, recognizing that the battle was lost.
"Luca..." Julian stammered, taking a step back toward the open dock window. "How... how are you alive? Mark said—"
"Mark is dead," Luca said calmly, his voice ringing out like a death sentence. "Your hitmen in Westchester are dead or in federal custody. And your little empire ends tonight."
Julian’s eyes darted frantically around the room until they landed on me standing beside Luca. His expression twisted into a ugly, bitter sneer.
"You brought the secretary," Julian spat, pulling a small derringer pistol from his vest pocket. "You ruined fifty years of family tradition and bloodline security for a nobody!"
Before Julian could raise his weapon, I stepped forward from behind Luca, pulling a heavy brass stamp tool—used for sealing official marine deeds—off the desk beside me, and threw it with all my strength straight at Julian's face.
The heavy brass object struck Julian squarely on the bridge of his nose with a loud crack.
Julian screamed, dropping his pistol, stumbling backward over the leather duffel bag, and crashing hard onto the wooden deck floor.
Luca stepped forward instantly, placing his heavy boot firmly onto Julian's chest, pressing his rifle barrel directly between his uncle's eyes.
"Don't kill him, Luca," I said softly, stepping up beside him.
Luca looked at me, his finger hovering over the trigger. "He tried to murder you, Emma. He tried to destroy everything my father built."
"If you kill him here, you spend the next ten years fighting murder charges in federal court," I argued gently, resting my hand over Luca's tight wrist. "If you let him live, we hand him, Sophia, and her father over to the State Attorney General along with the mountain of financial fraud documents I downloaded from Mark's private server twenty minutes ago."
Julian gasped for air under Luca's boot, his face bleeding, staring up at us in utter defeat.
Luca stared down at his uncle for three long, agonizing seconds. The darkness in his eyes wrestled with the quiet, noble strength he had fought so hard to build.
Slowly, Luca lowered his weapon.
"You're lucky my wife is smarter than you, Julian," Luca said coldly.
May you like
My heart skipped a beat at the word wife, but I kept my face completely impassive.
Luca looked at the lead tactical officer standing near the entrance. "Call the State Prosecutor. Tell them we have a early Christmas present for them."
