Chapter 9 - The Final Stand
The heavy steel doors slowly slid open, revealing Vincenzo standing in the hallway.
He was flanked by a dozen heavily armed syndicate captains.
Vincenzo looked exactly as terrifying as I remembered, his cold eyes devoid of any human emotion.
He demanded that Vanessa hand over the hard drive immediately.
Luca stepped in front of us, raising his empty hands to show he was not a threat to the captains.
Luca spoke directly to the syndicate leaders, telling them his father had murdered their former bosses to seize power.
The captains looked confused, glancing nervously at Vincenzo.
Vincenzo ordered them to shoot Luca, claiming his son had gone completely insane.
But the captains hesitated, unwilling to kill the rightful heir to the Moretti empire without proof.
Vanessa realized the upload had failed when the power was cut.
She looked at me, a fiercely determined expression crossing her bruised face.
She whispered that she loved me, then suddenly lunged toward Vincenzo with a hidden knife.
It was a desperate, suicidal distraction.
Vincenzo easily sidestepped her attack and aimed his golden pistol directly at her chest.
Before he could pull the trigger, Luca tackled his father violently to the marble floor.
The gun went off, the bullet shattering the glass server racks behind us.
I grabbed the hard drive, desperately plugging it into a battery-powered backup terminal.
The syndicate captains raised their weapons, unsure of who to shoot in the chaotic struggle.
Vincenzo managed to kick Luca away and pointed his gun directly at my head.
He promised to kill me and mold my children into heartless monsters.
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He pulled the heavy trigger without a single ounce of hesitation.
Luca threw himself into the line of fire, taking the bullet directly in the center of his chest.
