Chapter 9 - The Ledger of Sins
The armored SUV screeched to a halt in the underground private garage of the Costa estate before the doors had even fully locked. Before the vehicle could stop rocking, Luciano was out, yanking the side door open and lifting my mother into his arms with terrifying speed.
"Get Dr. Vance down to the private medical wing immediately!" Luciano roared at Mr. Hart, who was waiting by the elevator with a team of paramedics and security guards. "If she dies tonight, heads roll in this estate!"
For the next two hours, the private wing on the lowest level of the mansion was a blur of sterile lights, frantic medical equipment beeping in erratic rhythms, and hushed, tense voices. I sat on a hard plastic chair outside the operating room doors, my hands still stained with dried soot and blood, staring blindly at the white tiled floor.
Luciano stood a few feet away, pacing back and forth like a caged predator. The raw, unmasked panic I had seen in the car had vanished, replaced by a cold, terrifying fury that seemed to radiate from him in waves.
"He was poisoned," Luciano muttered to himself, stopping in his tracks as he stared at the closed doors of the operating room. "My father didn't die of natural causes. For twelve years, I blamed myself for not pushing him harder, for not taking the reins sooner. And all along..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but I knew what he was thinking. The entire power structure of the city—the delicate peace agreements, the alliances between the twenty Mafia families, the Commission itself—was built on a foundation of lies, treason, and murder.
If Dante Costa had been murdered by someone within his own inner circle, and that same person was currently sitting on the Commission... then the entire syndicate was sitting on a powder keg.
And we were holding the match.
The heavy doors of the medical room finally clicked open, and Dr. Vance stepped out, peeling off his blood-spattered latex gloves. He looked exhausted, his forehead damp with sweat.
Luciano was across the room in two strides, grabbing the doctor by the shoulders. "Is she alive?"
"She's stable, Mr. Costa," Dr. Vance said, breathing heavily. "It was close—shock, exhaustion, and severe dehydration combined with her chronic respiratory issues pushed her to the brink. But we managed to bring her back. She's resting now. No visitors for at least twelve hours."
I let out a ragged, trembling breath, my knees finally giving out as I slumped back against the waiting room wall, sliding down until I sat flat on the floor, burying my face in my hands as the overwhelming relief washed over me in a tidal wave.
A moment later, a shadow fell over me.
Warm, strong hands slid under my arms, lifting me effortlessly off the floor and pulling me into a firm, unyielding embrace. I didn't fight it. I wrapped my arms around Luciano’s waist, burying my face in the soft fabric of his shirt, letting the tears I had held back all night finally break free.
He didn't say anything. He just held me tightly, one hand resting on the back of my head, his fingers gently threading through my hair as the tension slowly drained from his massive frame.
"She's alive, Chloe," he murmured against my ear, his voice rough and quiet. "You saved her. You walked into a slaughterhouse and you saved her."
"Because of you," I whispered back, my voice muffled against his chest. "If you hadn't come..."
"I would burn this entire city to ash before I let anyone touch you," he interrupted fiercely, pulling back just enough to look down into my eyes. His dark gaze was burning with a raw, undeniable intensity that made my heart race for an entirely different reason. "You are not a pawn to me, Chloe. You never were."
"Luciano..."
Before I could finish the sentence, the secure wall-mounted intercom near the end of the hallway chimed sharply.
Mr. Hart’s voice crackled through the speaker, tight with an urgency that made my blood run cold.
May you like
"Mr. Costa. You need to come to the security control room immediately. The outer gates have just been breached. Not by Bellini's men. By the Commission."
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