Chapter 17 - The Impossible Choice
I found Julian in the palazzo’s courtyard, blending seamlessly into the shadows near a marble fountain.
I grabbed his arm and pulled him out through a side gate, not speaking until we were safely aboard a water taxi cutting through the misty canals.
I tossed the manila folder and the USB drive onto the leather seat between us.
"He wants me to assassinate Defense Minister Rossi tomorrow night," I said, my voice hollow.
Julian picked up the folder, reading the details under the dim streetlights passing by.
"Rossi is surrounded by heavily armed military police twenty-four hours a day. It is a suicide mission, Dominic."
"I don't have a choice," I snapped, running a hand over my tired face.
"If I don't do it, he kills Leo. If I do it, I become the monster I promised Elena I would never be again."
Julian stared out at the dark water, his brilliant, ruthless mind calculating a hundred variables a second.
"The Blind King is lying," Julian said quietly.
I looked up at him, frowning. "What do you mean?"
"The Commission leaves no loose ends. If you kill Rossi, you will be the most wanted man in Europe. The King will kill you and Leo anyway to erase the connection to the syndicate."
My chest tightened. It was the brutal truth of the underworld.
"Then what do we do, Julian? Because letting my brother die is not an option."
Julian turned to me, a dangerous, predatory smile forming on his lips.
"We do what we do best, Dominic. We change the rules of the game."
He tapped the USB drive.
"While I was in the security hub, I found out where the Blind King keeps his leverage. He has a physical ledger, a black book containing the names, accounts, and crimes of every member of the High Commission."
I understood immediately.
"It is his insurance policy," I realized. "If the Commission ever turns on him, he releases the book and destroys them all."
"Exactly," Julian nodded. "Tomorrow night, you are not going to the opera house to kill Minister Rossi."
"I am going to break back into the Palazzo di Morte while the Blind King is distracted waiting for the assassination."
Julian leaned forward, his eyes shining with cold excitement.
"We steal the ledger. We rescue Leo. And we trade the book for your freedom."
It was a desperate, impossible plan, requiring perfect timing and sheer madness.
I looked at the photograph of the target, then threw it into the dark waters of the canal.
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"Get the blueprints to the vault," I said, a grim smile finally breaking across my face.
"We are going hunting."
