Chapter 6 - NOBODY LEAVES CLEAN
Valentina backed away.
“No.”
Lorenzo stared at her.
“You’re suddenly nervous?”
“Victor will kill me.”
Sophia laughed without humor.
“You were fine when he was going to kill me.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Valentina looked toward the vault door.
“I was supposed to marry Lorenzo, gain access to the company, and make sure Victor’s routes stayed protected.”
Lorenzo’s expression was unreadable.
“Our engagement was an assignment?”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Valentina swallowed.
“That doesn’t matter now.”
“It matters to me.”
A burst of gunfire sounded upstairs.
Valentina flinched.
“They’re not here to rescue me.”
Sophia folded Daniel’s file and slipped it inside her shirt.
“We should leave.”
Lorenzo began filling a leather document bag with ledgers and hard drives.
Sophia stared.
“You’re giving Victor everything?”
“No.”
He removed his phone and photographed several pages.
Then he picked up a tiny drive.
“My father made backups.”
Valentina’s eyes narrowed.
“How do you know?”
“Because he trusted nobody.”
Lorenzo handed Sophia the leather bag.
“These documents are leverage.”
“And the real evidence?”
Lorenzo slipped the drive into his shoe.
“Insurance.”
A crash came from the chapel.
Someone shouted.
“Mr. Moretti!”
Lorenzo raised his gun.
Valentina whispered, “That’s Carlo.”
The vault lights went out.
Darkness swallowed them.
Sophia heard footsteps on the stairs.
Lorenzo grabbed her and pulled her behind a cabinet.
A flashlight beam cut across the room.
Carlo entered with two armed men.
“Boss?”
Lorenzo stayed silent.
Carlo’s flashlight moved across the cabinets.
“Sophia, I know you’re down here.”
Sophia pressed one hand over her mouth.
“You made this difficult,” Carlo continued.
“Your husband did the same thing.”
Sophia’s entire body shook.
Carlo laughed softly.
“He begged too.”
She nearly moved.
Lorenzo gripped her wrist.
Not yet.
Carlo stepped closer.
“He kept saying your name.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
Daniel.
On the final night of his life, he had called her three times.
She hadn’t answered the first two because Mia had a fever.
She had hated herself for that.
Now she knew why he kept calling.
Carlo was only six feet away.
Then Valentina stepped into the beam.
“Carlo.”
He aimed at her.
“Victor wants you alive.”
“For now.”
“Where’s Lorenzo?”
Valentina looked toward the opposite side of the vault.
“There.”
Carlo turned.
Lorenzo fired.
One shot.
The flashlight shattered.
Chaos exploded.
Sophia dropped to the ground.
Gunfire ripped through the cabinets.
Lorenzo shouted, “Move!”
Sophia crawled toward the stairs.
Someone grabbed her ankle.
She kicked hard.
A man cursed.
Then another shot.
The grip disappeared.
Sophia reached the staircase.
Valentina was ahead of her.
For one second, Sophia thought she was escaping.
Then Valentina turned and held out her hand.
“Come on!”
Sophia stared.
Valentina screamed, “Do you want your daughter or not?”
Sophia grabbed her hand.
Together they ran.
Behind them, Lorenzo shouted.
Then came a single gunshot.
May you like
And Lorenzo went silent.
---
