CHAPTER 4 – THE BULLET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
CHAPTER 4 – THE BULLET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
"Dante!"
Vivian's voice cut through the chaos.
Doctors rushed from the estate's private medical wing.
Security surrounded the courtyard.
The captured attackers were forced onto their knees.
Clara stared at the blood soaking through Dante's white shirt.
"You've been shot."
He glanced at the wound as though it were an inconvenience.
"It went through."
"You need a hospital."
"I have one downstairs."
He looked at the head of security.
"Alive?"
"Two captured."
"The others escaped."
"Find them."
"Yes, sir."
Only then did Dante allow himself to sway slightly.
Clara instinctively caught his arm.
Their eyes met.
For one strange moment...
the terrifying man everyone feared looked simply exhausted.
In the medical wing, the bullet wound proved clean.
The doctor stitched Dante's shoulder while he continued reviewing security footage.
Vivian stood with folded arms.
"You nearly died."
"I've had worse."
"You stood in the open."
"I had a clear shot."
"You had no cover."
"I had enough."
The doctor sighed.
"Could the patient stop discussing tactics while I'm sewing him?"
Neither listened.
Across the room, Clara waited awkwardly.
She still wore Dante's jacket.
Vivian noticed.
"Sit down, dear."
"I should go."
"No."
"I'm only staff."
"No."
"I've caused enough trouble."
Vivian's voice softened.
"The trouble followed you."
Clara looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
Dante answered before his mother could.
"They weren't here to rob us."
"They came for you."
Silence.
"My family has no enemies."
Dante looked at her steadily.
"Everyone has enemies."
Hours later, security identified one of the captured men.
He wasn't a professional assassin.
He worked for a private logistics company.
One secretly owned through shell corporations...
by the Russo family.
Natalie sat perfectly composed when Vivian summoned all five women into the grand salon.
The elderly matriarch placed the Moretti ring on the table.
"My test is over."
Nobody spoke.
Vivian continued.
"Four of you failed."
Marissa looked offended.
"You set us up?"
"I gave you a chance to reveal yourselves."
Lauren whispered,
"This is absurd."
"No."
Vivian's voice became ice.
"Stealing from my family is absurd."
She turned toward Natalie.
"And betrayal..."
"...is unforgivable."
Natalie's heartbeat accelerated.
But her smile remained flawless.
"I'm afraid I don't understand."
"You will."
Vivian snapped her fingers.
The ballroom doors opened.
Security dragged in one of the captured kidnappers.
His face was bruised.
His wrists were bound.
He lifted his head.
Saw Natalie.
And whispered,
"I'm sorry..."
Her face finally changed.
Just for an instant.
Enough.
Vivian saw it.
Dante saw it.
Clara saw it.
The game had ended.
The war had begun.
Vivian slowly picked up the family ring and slipped it onto her finger once more.
Then she looked at Clara before speaking words that stunned everyone in the room.
"From this moment forward..."
"...Clara Bennett is under the protection of the Moretti family."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
Because in his world, there was only one way someone received that level of protection.
They became family.
And somewhere in the shadows beyond the estate walls, a hidden figure lowered a pair of binoculars and made a quiet phone call.
"The first attempt failed."
A cold voice answered.
"Then stop aiming at the girl."
A long pause.
"Aim at the brother."
Miles away in a Georgia rehabilitation hospital, twelve-year-old Noah Bennett smiled as a nurse handed him a balloon.
May you like
Neither of them noticed the man in a maintenance uniform entering through the back corridor.
Or the syringe hidden inside his toolbox.
