Chapter Five — Blood on the Glass
1476 Words
The gunshot shattered the silence of the conservatory.
Glass exploded above them, raining down like deadly diamonds.
Sophia screamed and dropped to the floor.
Before she could even breathe, Alessandro launched himself at the nearest gunman. They crashed into the massive mahogany desk, sending papers and ornaments flying. Another gunshot tore through the ceiling as Marco’s men opened fire.
“GET DOWN!” Alessandro shouted.
Sophia covered her head as bullets ripped through the glass walls. The beautiful conservatory had become a battlefield filled with smoke, shattered glass, screams, and the sharp smell of gunpowder.
Alessandro fought with terrifying precision.
He drove his elbow into the first gunman’s throat. The man staggered, gasping for air, but Alessandro caught his wrist and twisted it violently until the pistol fell to the floor.
A sickening crack followed.
The man screamed as his shoulder dislocated.
Alessandro barely reacted. He picked up the fallen weapon and fired twice.
Two of Marco’s men dropped.
“Sophia!”
She lifted her head.
Alessandro stood several feet away, blood trickling from a cut above his eyebrow.
“Stay behind me!”
Sophia nodded, but before she could move, Marco fired.
Alessandro grabbed her and dragged her behind the desk. The bullet slammed into the wood only inches from Sophia’s head.
“He’s going to kill us!” she cried.
Alessandro looked at her.
For the first time that night, Sophia saw something in his eyes that frightened her more than the guns.
Fear.
But it wasn't fear for himself.
It was fear for her.
“I won’t let him,” he said.
He rose and fired toward Marco.
Marco ducked behind a stone pillar.
“Kill him!” he shouted.
His remaining men rushed toward Alessandro.
One attacked from the side.
Alessandro moved faster.
He stepped aside, grabbed the man by his collar, and slammed him hard against the marble floor.
Another gunman raised his weapon.
Sophia saw him first.
“Alessandro!”
She grabbed a heavy brass lamp from the desk and threw it with all her strength.
The lamp struck the gunman’s wrist.
His weapon flew across the floor.
Alessandro finished the attack with one powerful punch.
Then silence fell.
Only for three seconds.
Click.
Sophia’s heart stopped.
Marco stepped out from behind the pillar.
His pistol was aimed directly at her.
“You've always been predictable, Alessandro,” Marco said calmly. “That is why you’re going to lose.”
Alessandro froze.
Marco’s eyes moved toward the tiny metallic drive lying beside the open locket on the desk.
“You protected her instead of protecting the ledger.”
A cold smile appeared on his face.
“And now I know exactly where your weakness is.”
Sophia slowly stood.
“Why do you want it so badly?”
Marco laughed softly.
“Because power doesn't belong to the strongest man. It belongs to the man who knows everyone’s secrets.”
He picked up the drive.
“Politicians. Judges. Police commissioners. Businessmen. Everyone has something to hide.”
His eyes swept across the room.
“Even people sitting at this very table.”
Sophia swallowed.
“What happens if you get it?”
Marco’s smile disappeared.
“I become untouchable.”
Alessandro’s voice was cold.
“You already made one mistake.”
Marco raised an eyebrow.
“And what mistake was that?”
“You came into my house.”
Alessandro glanced toward the shattered doors.
Then toward the floor.
Sophia followed his gaze.
Blood.
But it wasn't Marco’s.
One of the wounded gunmen lay against the wall. His fingers were tightly wrapped around a small black communication device.
Alessandro looked at Sophia.
She immediately understood.
He hadn't been studying the wounded man.
He had been watching the device.
A faint smile crossed Alessandro’s face.
“You’re not the only one who can call for reinforcements.”
Marco’s expression changed.
Outside, sirens suddenly screamed through the night.
Marco spun toward the windows.
“What did you do?”
Alessandro raised his pistol.
“I told my security team to lock down the estate before you arrived.”
Marco stared at him.
“But Luca opened the gate!”
“Yes.”
Alessandro’s expression hardened.
“And Luca was never my security chief.”
Marco’s face went pale.
Alessandro continued quietly.
“He was mine.”
Sophia’s eyes widened.
Before Marco could respond, the estate doors burst open.
Armed men dressed in black tactical gear stormed into the conservatory.
Marco cursed.
“Move!”
His lieutenant grabbed Sophia from behind and pressed a gun against her temple.
Alessandro immediately lowered his weapon.
“Let her go.”
Marco backed toward the exit, clutching the drive.
“Not a chance.”
Sophia struggled against the man holding her.
Then she felt something hard against her palm.
The silver pendant.
Her fingers closed around it.
Suddenly, an old memory returned.
Her father’s voice.
A warning from years ago that she had buried deep inside her mind.
*When the time comes, don’t trust the man who tells you the truth.*
Sophia’s heart pounded.
She looked at Alessandro.
Then at Marco.
Then at the tiny drive in Marco’s hand.
Something wasn't right.
The ledger wasn't the only secret her father had left behind.
“Alessandro,” she whispered.
His eyes locked onto hers.
“There’s something you don’t know.”
Marco frowned.
“What?”
Sophia looked directly at him.
“My father didn't hide the ledger inside the pendant.”
The entire room went still.
Marco’s smile disappeared.
“Then where is it?”
Sophia slowly smiled through the tears in her eyes.
“Inside you.”
Marco stared at her.
“What?”
Alessandro’s eyes widened.
“The tattoo.”
Sophia nodded.
The strange symbol engraved on the back of her silver pendant was identical to the mark tattooed across Alessandro’s wrist.
Marco looked from the pendant to Alessandro.
“No…”
Slowly, Alessandro pulled back his sleeve.
The mark was not simply a tattoo.
It was a series of numbers.
Coordinates.
A code.
A location.
His father’s final secret.
Marco’s expression changed as realization dawned on him.
“The ledger was never stored anywhere,” he whispered.
Sophia shook her head.
“My father divided it into two parts.”
She looked at Alessandro.
“One half was given to me.”
Her eyes dropped to his wrist.
“And the other half…”
Alessandro finished the sentence.
“…was given to my family.”
A terrifying silence settled over the room.
Then Marco laughed.
But there was no humor in it.
“You have no idea what you’ve just uncovered.”
He slowly raised his gun.
“Neither of you does.”
Before anyone could react—
Marco fired.
Alessandro shoved Sophia aside.
The bullet struck him in the chest.
“Alessandro!”
He staggered backward.
Sophia caught him before he hit the floor.
Blood quickly spread across his white shirt.
Marco watched them with a cruel smile.
“Now let's see how much love survives a little blood.”
He turned and disappeared into the smoke.
Sophia lowered herself to the floor, holding Alessandro against her.
“Stay with me.”
His eyes struggled to remain open.
“Sophia…”
“Don’t you dare close your eyes.”
He reached weakly for her hand.
“The tattoo…”
“What about it?”
His breathing became shallow.
“Don’t let them… get the other half.”
Sophia stared at him.
“Who?”
Alessandro’s eyes closed for a moment.
“The person…”
He coughed, blood staining his lips.
“…who betrayed us.”
Sophia’s heart raced.
“Who betrayed us, Alessandro?”
But he was already unconscious.
She looked around the ruined conservatory.
Marco was gone.
The drive was gone.
And Alessandro was bleeding in her arms.
Then, somewhere deep inside the dark corridors of the estate, a phone began to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Everyone froze.
One of the armed men moved toward the sound.
He found a phone lying on a small table.
He picked it up.
His face immediately turned pale.
He looked toward Sophia.
“Ma’am…”
Sophia slowly stood.
“What?”
The man swallowed.
“It’s your father’s number.”
Sophia stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
Her father had been gone for fifteen years.
Dead.
Or at least, that was what she had always believed.
The phone rang again.
Sophia stared at the screen.
Her hands began to tremble.
Then she heard a voice from the other end.
A voice she had not heard since she was a child.
A voice that belonged to the man she had spent years mourning.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Sophia stopped breathing.
Tears filled her eyes.
She knew that voice.
There was no mistaking it.
It was her father.
Daniel Williams.
And he was alive.
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