Chapter 9 - The Ultimate Choice
The low, menacing growl vibrating in Titan’s chest made Grace freeze instantly.
She looked into the deep shadows between two towering shipping containers.
A figure emerged, walking slowly and deliberately into the dim light of the streetlamp.
It was Victor Reyes, who had slipped away during the chaos when Titan rushed to greet Luca.
Victor wasn’t holding a gun or a knife this time.
He was holding a heavy, military-grade fragmentation grenade, and the safety pin was already pulled.
"If I go to prison, the Rossi family will murder my entire bloodline," Victor said, his voice shaking with pure, unadulterated terror.
"We all die right here, Luca."
Victor raised his hand, preparing to drop the live grenade onto the concrete between them.
Luca shoved Grace violently behind the heavy armored door of the car.
"Stay down!" Luca roared, throwing his own body forward to shield her completely.
Grace screamed as time seemed to slow to a terrifying crawl.
She watched Victor’s fingers release the deadly explosive.
But before the grenade could hit the ground, Titan lunged.
The massive black mastiff didn't attack Victor.
With incredible, tragic loyalty, the dog caught the live grenade in his powerful jaws.
Titan turned and sprinted desperately toward the edge of the pier, away from Grace and Luca.
"No, Titan!" Grace shrieked, fighting against Luca's heavy grip to run after him.
The dog reached the edge of the concrete and leaped out over the dark, freezing harbor water.
The explosion happened mid-air.
A brilliant flash of orange light blinded them, followed by a concussive shockwave that rattled the car windows.
A massive plume of water shot into the sky, raining down on the docks like bitter tears.
Grace collapsed onto the pavement, sobbing with a grief so profound it felt like her chest was physically tearing apart.
The dog who had remembered her, the dog her father had used as a pawn, had just sacrificed himself for her life.
Victor stared in dumbfounded horror at the water, having failed his suicide mission.
Luca stood up slowly, his face an emotionless mask of lethal intent.
He walked over to Victor, pulled his handgun, and fired one shot into the traitor’s kneecap.
Victor screamed, crumbling to the ground.
"The police can have what's left of you," Luca stated coldly, kicking the man's weapon into the harbor.
Luca returned to Grace, gathering her shaking body gently into his arms.
He sat on the wet concrete with her, holding her tightly as the federal police cars finally flooded the docks.
They watched in silence as heavily armed agents arrested her wounded father and the remaining mercenaries.
The nightmare was officially over, but the cost felt impossibly high.
Grace buried her face in Luca's shoulder, weeping for the loyal friend she had lost twice in one lifetime.
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Then, from the dark, churning water near the wooden pilings of the pier, they heard a sound.
It was a weak, strained whimper.
