Chapter two: Devil in black
853 Words
The cemetery erupted into chaos.
Mourners screamed as bullets ripped through marble headstones. White flowers scattered across the soaked grass, stained crimson by blood. The priest dropped to his knees behind the altar, whispering desperate prayers.
Ariana couldn't breathe.
Her father's funeral had become a war zone.
"What is happening?" she shouted.
Lucien didn't answer.
He kept one arm firmly around her waist while scanning the cemetery with frightening calm, as if he'd expected this day to come.
Three black SUVs burst through the cemetery gates.
Masked gunmen poured out, firing without hesitation.
Lucien's men returned fire instantly.
The sharp crack of gunshots echoed through the rain.
"Move!" Lucien ordered.
"I told you, I'm not going anywhere with you!"
"You'll die if you stay."
His words weren't angry.
They were certain.
Ariana jerked free and stumbled backward.
"I don't even know who you are!"
Another shot rang out.
The bullet shattered the angel statue beside her.
Stone exploded across her face.
She gasped.
A pair of strong arms caught her before she fell.
Lucien.
His grey eyes were colder than the rain.
"I don't intend to ask twice."
Before Ariana could protest again, one of Lucien's guards ran toward them.
"Boss!"
Lucien turned.
"Report."
"We've eliminated six."
"And ours?"
"Two down."
Lucien's jaw tightened.
"What about the eastern exit?"
"Blocked."
"The western gate?"
"Snipers."
For the first time, Ariana realized these weren't ordinary bodyguards.
They spoke like soldiers.
Like men who had survived battles before.
Lucien looked toward the cemetery wall.
"They're trying to trap us."
A loud explosion shook the ground.
One of the parked cars burst into flames.
Heat rolled across the rain-soaked cemetery.
People screamed louder.
Children cried.
Smoke swallowed the entrance.
Ariana's entire body trembled.
"This... this can't be happening."
Lucien finally looked at her.
"It is."
"Who are those men?"
"They don't matter."
"They're shooting at everyone!"
"They're shooting at you."
She froze.
"What?"
"They aren't here for the funeral."
His voice remained unnervingly calm.
"They're here because they know you're alive."
Ariana stared at him as though he'd spoken another language.
"I don't understand."
"I know."
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
Lucien's expression changed.
He shoved Ariana to the ground.
A bullet flew exactly where her head had been.
It struck the tree behind them.
The sniper had been aiming for her.
Not anyone else.
Her hands began shaking uncontrollably.
Lucien crouched beside her.
"Now do you believe me?"
She couldn't answer.
Another sniper fired.
Lucien drew a black pistol from beneath his jacket with practiced ease.
He fired once.
Silence.
Seconds later, a body tumbled from a distant rooftop outside the cemetery wall.
Ariana's eyes widened.
"You..."
"I'm very good at what I do."
There was no pride in his voice.
Only fact.
Another convoy sped into the cemetery.
More armed men.
Lucien's earpiece crackled.
"Boss, the route is open."
He nodded.
"Good."
He grabbed Ariana's wrist.
"This ends now."
She pulled away again.
"I'm not leaving with a murderer."
His eyes darkened.
"If I wanted you dead..."
He stepped closer until only inches separated them.
"...you would never have survived the first minute we met."
For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke.
Rain dripped from his dark hair.
Water slid down the sharp line of his jaw.
He looked terrifying.
Yet somehow...
She felt safer standing beside him than anywhere else in the cemetery.
The realization frightened her more than the gunfire.
Lucien noticed the hesitation in her eyes.
"Your father trusted me."
"My father trusted no criminals."
A flicker of something crossed his face.
Pain.
It disappeared so quickly she wondered if she'd imagined it.
"He trusted me with the only thing that mattered."
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
He reached into his coat again.
This time he removed a silver ring engraved with the Moretti family crest.
Ariana stopped breathing.
Her father had worn that ring every day.
He never took it off.
"Where did you get that?"
"He gave it to me."
"No..."
"The night he made me a promise."
Before Ariana could ask another question, a familiar voice called her name.
"Ariana!"
She turned.
Her father's lawyer was running toward them, clutching a leather briefcase.
Relief flooded her.
"Mr. Romano!"
He was only a few steps away when a single shot echoed through the cemetery.
His body jerked violently.
The briefcase slipped from his hand.
He collapsed onto the wet grass.
Blood spread beneath him.
Ariana screamed.
"No!"
She ran toward him, but Lucien caught her before she could reach the fallen lawyer.
"Let me go!"
"He's gone."
"I have to help him!"
"You can't."
Tears blurred her vision.
Mr. Romano's trembling hand stretched toward her.
With his last ounce of strength, he pointed at the leather briefcase.
Then his hand fell.
Still.
Lucien's gaze locked onto the briefcase.
"So..."
he murmured.
"They've finally come for it."
Ariana looked at him through her tears.
"What is in that briefcase?"
Lucien didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he picked it up, his expression unreadable.
When he finally spoke, his voice was almost a whisper.
"The reason your father was murdered."
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