Chapter 8 - The Fire and the Blood
"Drop the gun, Grace, and toss the key onto the concrete," Samuel yelled over the chaos.
"Or I put a bullet through his heart right now."
Luca froze in the center of the battlefield, surrounded by fallen men, his eyes locking with Grace's.
He shook his head slightly, a silent command for her not to surrender the ledger.
Grace's hands shook violently as she looked between the man she was falling in love with and the monster she once called Dad.
"Don't do it, Dad!" Grace pleaded, tears streaming down her face.
"Please, if you ever loved me, let him go!"
Samuel's face hardened, completely devoid of paternal warmth.
"Love is a weakness, Grace, and power is the only truth," Samuel replied coldly.
He adjusted his grip on the sniper rifle, his finger tightening on the trigger.
"Three seconds, Gracie. Three."
Grace looked at the silver key in her hand, knowing it held the power to destroy the entire criminal underworld.
"Two."
She looked at Luca, who stood tall and proud, completely accepting his fate to protect her.
"One."
Grace didn't drop the key.
Instead, she raised her handgun and aimed it directly at her own father.
The gunshot echoed across the docks, sharp and deafening.
But it didn't come from Grace's gun.
Samuel gasped, his eyes widening in shock as a dark red stain blossomed on his right shoulder.
The sniper rifle slipped from his grasp, clattering uselessly to the pavement far below.
Samuel stumbled backward and fell off the shipping container, crashing heavily into a stack of wooden crates.
Grace spun around to see who had fired the shot.
Standing at the entrance of the docks, holding a smoking hunting rifle, was a woman with silver hair and a fierce expression.
It was Luca's mother, the supposed gentle matriarch of the Moretti family.
"Nobody threatens my son," she declared, racking a fresh round into the chamber.
Luca didn't waste a second.
He sprinted across the concrete, dodging the final pockets of resistance, and pulled Grace into a crushing embrace.
"Are you hurt?" Luca demanded, frantically checking her face and arms.
"I'm okay," Grace cried, burying her face in his chest, inhaling the scent of smoke and expensive cologne.
Titan let out a massive, joyful bark, abandoning the terrified Victor to join the reunion.
Luca's loyal men quickly secured the remaining hostiles, dragging a wounded, cursing Samuel from the rubble.
Samuel glared at Grace as he was forced to his knees in handcuffs.
"You chose a mob boss over your own flesh and blood," Samuel spat bitterly.
Grace stepped out of Luca's arms and walked slowly toward the man who had ruined her life.
She looked down at him, feeling absolutely nothing but pity.
"You stopped being my father the day you faked your death," Grace said quietly.
"Luca protected me when you threw me to the wolves."
She turned her back on him and walked away, leaving her past completely behind her.
The sirens of federal police vehicles began wailing in the distance, called in by Luca's mother.
Luca wrapped his arm securely around Grace's waist as they walked toward an undamaged car.
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"It's finally over," Luca whispered, kissing the top of her head.
But as they opened the car door, Titan stopped dead in his tracks and began to growl at the darkness.
