Chapter 8 - THE GOLD BRACELET
The rain felt like needles against Luca’s face, pulling him back from the edge of the void.
He choked, coughing up a mouthful of warm blood. The pain in his chest was absolute, a radiating fire that told him his lungs were failing.
Through his fading vision, the world was moving in slow motion.
The firefight had stopped.
Adrian was being dragged out from behind the tombstone by two massive guards, his knees hitting the mud. He was beaten, bleeding out, completely defenseless.
Elena was held by her hair by a third man, screaming, fighting like a cornered lioness, her face bruised and bloodied.
Uncle Carmine walked slowly through the graveyard, his cane clicking against the surviving pavement. He stopped in front of Adrian, looking down at his nephew with absolute disgust.
“You put up a good fight for a dead man,” Carmine sneered. He pulled a heavy silver revolver from his coat. “But the dead should stay buried.”
Carmine cocked the hammer, aiming it directly at Adrian’s forehead.
Elena screamed, fighting the guard holding her. She caught a glimpse of gold on the guard’s wrist. A heavy gold Rolex bracelet.
With a burst of adrenaline fueled by sheer maternal terror, Elena twisted her body violently, biting down hard on the guard’s hand holding her hair.
The man howled in pain, loosening his grip.
Elena spun, grabbing the gold bracelet on his wrist and twisting his arm backward with a sickening CRACK.
She ripped the guard’s sidearm from his holster, pointing it directly at Carmine’s head.
“Drop it!” Elena screamed, her hands shaking, her chest heaving. “Drop the gun, you old bastard!”
Carmine froze. He didn't lower his revolver. He just turned his head slightly, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
“Or what, little girl?” Carmine laughed. “You shoot me, my men turn you and Adrian into Swiss cheese. The boy in the tunnel gets hunted down like a dog. You have no leverage.”
“She doesn't,” a weak, ragged voice echoed from the mud. “But I do.”
Carmine’s smile vanished. He turned around.
Luca was on his knees. His white shirt was soaked crimson, his face pale as a corpse. But in his trembling, bloodstained hand, he held a sleek black smartphone.
His thumb was resting on a single, glowing red button on the screen.
“What is that, Luca?” Carmine demanded, his voice finally betraying a hint of panic.
“The dead-man switch,” Luca coughed, blood trickling from his lips. “To the offshore accounts. The Caymans. The Swiss banks. Five billion dollars, Carmine. The entire Moretti fortune.”
Carmine’s eyes widened. “You’re bluffing.”
“Try me,” Luca wheezed. “I tied the master encryption to my biometric heartbeat two years ago. I override it with this phone. But if I push this button… the encryption scrambles. The money is locked forever. Burns in the digital ether. And you… you inherit ashes.”
The fifty mercenaries surrounding them suddenly lowered their weapons, looking at Carmine in panic. They were hired guns. They didn't fight for loyalty. They fought for the money. If the money burned, they weren't getting paid.
“Luca, put the phone down,” Carmine pleaded, stepping away from Adrian, raising his hands. “We can talk about this. We’re family.”
“You’re not my family,” Luca whispered.
Luca looked at Adrian. His younger brother, bleeding in the mud, staring at him with tears in his eyes.
He looked at Elena, the fierce, beautiful mother who had risked everything.
He thought of Leo, running through the dark, waiting for a mother who promised to come back.
“Adrian,” Luca breathed, a sad, peaceful smile touching his lips. “Be a better father than ours was.”
Luca’s thumb pressed the button.
The screen flashed green: ACCOUNTS PURGED.
“NO!” Carmine screamed, his face twisting in horrific, absolute rage. He raised his revolver, aiming it at Luca’s chest.
But before Carmine could pull the trigger, the wail of dozens of police sirens ripped through the night.
Helicopter spotlights suddenly cut through the storm, blinding the graveyard. Swat trucks smashed through the front gates of the ruined church, heavily armed federal agents pouring out.
The mercenaries dropped their weapons instantly, throwing their hands in the air.
Carmine spun around in panic. He looked at the cops, then back at Luca.
“I’ll kill you!” Carmine shrieked, raising his gun again.
BANG.
Carmine’s body jerked violently. He dropped his silver revolver, staring blankly at the massive hole in his chest.
He fell backward into the mud, dead before his head hit the ground.
Behind him stood Elena, her stolen pistol smoking in the rain.
She dropped the gun and fell to her knees beside Adrian, burying her face in his neck, sobbing.
Luca watched them. The threat was gone. The empire was gone.
His work was done.
The adrenaline finally abandoned him. The excruciating pain faded into a cold, comfortable numbness.
Luca collapsed backward into the mud. He saw the flashing red and blue lights pulsing against the dark clouds. He heard paramedics screaming for stretchers.
Then, he heard a small voice.
“Uncle Luca!”
Leo. The boy had run back from the tunnel when he heard the sirens.
Luca felt a tiny, warm hand grip his cold, bloodstained fingers.
May you like
He smiled. He closed his eyes.
And the long, dark night finally took him.
