Chapter 7 - Blood and Gold
Marcus Moretti clutched his bleeding shoulder, his face twisted into an expression of pure, unadulterated horror as he stared up at the girl standing on the high pulpit.
"You..." Marcus rasped, his voice trembling with a combination of agony and deep-seated terror. "The DeLuca girl... you're alive..."
"I am the nightmare you’ve been running from for twelve years, Marcus," Aurelia said, her voice echoing off the burning stone walls like a phantom's curse.
"KILL HER!" Marcus shrieked, scrambling behind his ballistic shield guards!
The four mercenaries shifted their heavy shields upward, raising their submachine guns toward the pulpit!
"AURELIA! DOWN!" Roman roared!
Roman didn't hesitate. He launched his broad body forward, tackling the two lead shield-bearers with terrifying, monstrous force! The heavy iron shields clattered against the stone floor as Roman drove his combat knife through the tactical vest of the nearest attacker, disarming the second with a brutal elbow to the jaw!
At the same time, Dante burst through the altar floorboards, firing his submachine gun in a sweeping arc that cut down the remaining two mercenaries instantly!
Aurelia leapt down from the eight-foot pulpit, landing gracefully on her feet in the wet mud, her rifle already locked onto Marcus, who was crawling frantically toward his burning armored truck outside.
Roman stepped over the fallen mercenaries, his dark face covered in soot and blood, his chest heaving. He walked up beside Aurelia, placing his large hand on her shoulder.
Together, the Don of the Valenti family and the Heiress of the DeLuca bloodline walked out into the rain-soaked courtyard.
Marcus tumbled against the wheel of his burning vehicle, his fur coat soaked in mud and blood. He backed away until his shoulders hit the hot metal, holding his hands up in desperate surrender as Roman and Aurelia stood over him.
"Please..." Marcus whimpered, tears of terror mixing with the soot on his face. "Roman... listen to me... it was business! Your uncle Hector brought me the plan! I gave your family half the shipping profits! We can share it all! Billions, Roman!"
Roman didn't answer. He turned his head to look at Aurelia.
"He killed your family," Roman said softly, his voice devoid of anger, containing only absolute, lethal finality. "The sentence is yours, my Queen."
Aurelia stepped forward. She looked down at the man who had ordered her home burned, who had forced her to spend twelve years eating scraps in the dark, who had made her hide her beauty behind dirt and grime.
She slowly pulled the blackened silver locket from her pocket, dropping it onto Marcus’s lap.
"My father told me that gold buys power," Aurelia whispered, her hazel eyes glowing like burning copper in the firelight. "But blood buys vengeance."
She raised her weapon and pulled the trigger.
BANG.
The gunshot echoed across the silent, rain-swept cliffside.
Marcus Moretti collapsed sideways into the mud, his eyes staring lifelessly up at the dark autumn sky.
The twelve-year war was over.
Dante stepped up beside them, lowering his weapon and letting out a long, exhausted breath. "Boss... Moretti’s remaining forces are retreating. The Archon Commission’s radio frequency just went live. They saw the satellite feed of Marcus’s defeat. They’re begging for a meeting."
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Roman looked at Dante, then turned back to Aurelia. He reached out, taking her mud-stained, blood-fpeckled hand in his, pulling her against his chest as the rain washed the soot from their faces.
"Tell the Commission there is no meeting," Roman ordered cold-bloodedly. "Tell them to prepare their tribute. The Valenti-DeLuca empire owns this city now."
