CHAPTER 7 – THE FATHER WHO BUILT A MONSTER
CHAPTER 7 – THE FATHER WHO BUILT A MONSTER
Dominic stood frozen.
The pistol in his hand slowly lowered.
The man walking toward us looked twenty years older than the last photograph Dominic had ever seen of him.
Silver hair.
Tailored black suit.
The same piercing gray eyes.
"Impossible," Dominic whispered.
"I buried you."
The older man smiled.
"You buried an empty coffin."
Victor Kane stepped aside with a theatrical gesture.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "allow me to introduce the real founder of Project Genesis."
Dominic's father.
Antonio Moretti.
The man the underworld believed had died nearly two decades earlier.
Antonio looked at the twins before turning to his son.
"You've done an excellent job keeping my grandchildren alive."
"They're not your grandchildren," Dominic snapped.
"They're my children."
Antonio chuckled.
"Biology says otherwise."
Emily's stomach twisted.
"What are you talking about?"
Antonio folded his hands behind his back.
"Project Genesis was never about creating stronger children."
"It was about preserving bloodlines."
He slowly walked through the vault, running his fingers along the evidence boxes.
"Power fades."
"Empires collapse."
"But genetics..."
He smiled.
"Genetics can be designed."
Emily felt sick.
"The children..."
"Were selected before they were born."
Antonio nodded.
"The twins possess genetic traits that cannot be replicated."
He turned toward Emily.
"And you..."
"...were our first success."
Emily's voice shook.
"You murdered families."
"You experimented on children."
Antonio's expression never changed.
"I changed the future."
"No."
Maria Bennett changed the future.
Elena Moretti changed the future.
They stole the truth from me."
Victor Kane frowned.
"Enough speeches."
He motioned toward the guards.
"Take the twins."
"No!" Dominic roared.
Gunfire erupted.
Dominic fired first.
Emily grabbed one of the fallen guards' pistols and pulled the twins behind a marble pillar.
Chaos exploded through the vault.
Father Gabriel shoved a heavy bookshelf onto two attackers before being struck in the shoulder.
Dominic fought like a man with nothing left to lose.
Every bullet he fired created another opening for Emily to move the children farther from danger.
Victor Kane disappeared into the smoke.
Antonio never moved.
He simply watched.
Almost... proudly.
Then the old man spoke.
"Dominic."
His son looked up.
"You still hesitate."
"What?"
"You never shoot to kill unless someone threatens your family."
Antonio sighed.
"That's why you'll never rule what I built."
"I don't want your empire."
"I know."
Antonio reached inside his jacket.
Emily instinctively raised her pistol.
Instead of a gun...
He pulled out a remote.
A single red button.
Victor's voice echoed from somewhere deeper in the vault.
"Every box in this room has been wired."
Emily's heart stopped.
Antonio smiled.
"If I cannot preserve my legacy..."
"...no one will."
His thumb pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
Antonio frowned.
Pressed it again.
Still nothing.
A quiet voice came from behind the control panel.
"I disconnected it five minutes ago."
Everyone turned.
Marco's teenage daughter stepped into view holding a pair of wire cutters.
"My father taught me how."
She looked at Dominic with tears in her eyes.
"He died buying me time."
Dominic nodded silently.
"He died a hero."
Antonio's calm finally cracked.
May you like
For the first time...
Fear entered his eyes.
