Chapter 9 - Fire and Reckoning
The ocean night air was freezing, blowing my black silk dress around my heels as I stood near the marble balustrade of the terrace.
Within thirty seconds, the heavy glass doors opened behind me.
"I don't know how the hell you survived that car," a harsh voice spat from the darkness.
I turned around slowly. Marco Viti stood there, a silenced pistol raised directly at my heart. Beside him was Mateo Rossi, flanked by three armed hitmen.
"You should have stayed buried, Clara," Marco sneered, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Or whatever the hell your name is! You ruined my deal nine months ago, and you won't ruin it tonight!"
"I'm not Clara, Marco," I said coldly, holding my ground without flinching. "I'm Elina. Her sister. And I know you sold her route to the Rossis for fifty thousand dollars."
Marco's eyes flared with manic panic. "It doesn't matter who you are! You die tonight, and Lucian dies right after you!"
"I don't think so, Marco," a thunderous voice boomed from the shadows.
Lucian stepped out from behind the grand marble pillars, flanked by ten elite Vane guards with tactical rifles raised.
Mateo Rossi gasped, reaching for his own gun, but before he could clear his holster, SNIPER SHOTS echoed through the night air.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Rossi's three hitmen dropped instantly to the marble floor, neutralized by Lucian's snipers positioned on the roof above.
Mateo Rossi froze, raising his hands in sheer terror. "Lucian! Wait! It was Marco! Marco came to me with the offer! He set up your wife!"
Marco lost his mind. Realizing he was completely cornered, he swung his pistol toward my head, screaming, "DIE!"
BANG!
A single gunshot shattered the night.
Marco gasped, dropping his gun as a red stain bloomed across his chest. He staggered backward, tumbling over the marble balustrade, plunging into the dark crashing waves of the ocean hundreds of feet below.
Lucian lowered his smoking pistol. He didn't even look at Mateo Rossi, who was instantly grabbed and forced onto his knees by two Vane guards.
Lucian rushed across the slippery marble terrace, grabbing me by the shoulders, pulling me violently into his arms.
"Are you hurt?" Lucian roared, his hands frantically checking my face, my arms, my waist. "Elina! Did he touch you?"
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"I'm fine," I sobbed, wrapping my arms around his neck, burying my face into his warm chest. "I'm okay, Lucian! We did it!"
Lucian held me so tight I could barely breathe, his heart hammering against my cheek like a war drum. "Thank God..." he whispered into my hair, his voice breaking with raw emotion. "Thank God..."
