Chapter 9 - The Final Betrayal
Norah stared at the brother she had spent her entire life protecting.
He was completely broken, manipulated by a monster into pointing a loaded weapon at his own blood.
"You don't have to do this, Liam," Norah pleaded, slowly standing up from behind the marble altar.
Dominic grabbed her arm to pull her back down, but she firmly shook him off.
"If you shoot me, Liam, you have to live with that choice for the rest of your miserable life," she stated boldly.
Ivan grew impatient, waving his hand toward his mercenaries.
"Enough of this family drama, kill them both and take the territory," Ivan ordered.
In a fraction of a second, Liam pivoted sharply and fired his pistol directly into Ivan Tarasov's chest.
The Russian boss collapsed to the floor, gasping for air as his mercenaries froze in complete shock.
"Dominic, now!" Liam screamed at the top of his lungs.
Dominic did not hesitate, throwing a heavy flashbang grenade he had palmed during the standoff directly into the center of the aisle.
The blinding white light and deafening boom disoriented the entire mercenary squad.
Norah used her medical knowledge of anatomy to strike a blinded mercenary in the throat, grabbing his dropped weapon.
Dominic and Victor laid down a devastating crossfire, eliminating the remaining threats in a matter of seconds.
The chapel fell completely silent, thick gun smoke rolling heavily across the shattered pews.
Liam dropped to his knees, ripping the explosive vest off his chest and tossing it far away.
"You knew he was going to betray Ivan," Norah realized, looking between Dominic and her brother.
"I called Liam while you were resting in the truck," Dominic confessed, lowering his weapon.
"We arranged this performance to get Ivan completely out in the open without his usual security detail."
Norah ran to her brother, wrapping her arms around him as he sobbed uncontrollably.
"My wife and daughter are safe, Dominic's men extracted them an hour ago," Liam wept.
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Just as the adrenaline began to fade, a slow, terrifying beeping sound echoed from the discarded explosive vest.
Ivan, using the last ounce of his dying strength, had crawled across the floor and pressed the manual detonation sequence.
