The Choice
1281 Words
Chapter 17: The Choice
The message arrived at 3:17 a.m.
One photograph.
One location.
And three words.
CHOOSE HER OR LOSE HER.
Alessandro stared at the screen.
For several seconds, he couldn't breathe.
The photograph showed Isabella.
She was sitting in a dark room, her wrists tied behind her.
Her face was bruised.
But she was alive.
Barely.
Alessandro's hand tightened around the phone.
“No.”
The word came out like a whisper.
Then another message appeared.
MIDNIGHT. THE OLD OPERA HOUSE.
COME ALONE.
OR SHE DIES.
Alessandro stood so quickly that his chair fell behind him.
Marco entered the room.
“What happened?”
Alessandro showed him the photograph.
Marco's face changed.
“They have her.”
“Yes.”
“We need the men.”
“No.”
Marco stared at him.
“Alessandro—”
“He wants me alone.”
“That's exactly why you can't go alone.”
Alessandro looked toward the window.
“He knows I'll come.”
“Then we'll follow you.”
“No.”
Marco stepped closer.
“You're not thinking clearly.”
“I've never thought more clearly.”
He placed the phone on the table.
“If I bring an army, Viktor kills her.”
“And if you go alone, he kills you.”
“Then at least Isabella lives.”
Marco shook his head.
“You're willing to die?”
Alessandro's eyes hardened.
“For her?”
He didn't hesitate.
“Yes.”
Isabella opened her eyes.
The room was cold.
Her hands were tied to a metal chair.
A single light hung above her.
Footsteps approached.
The door opened.
Viktor walked in.
He looked almost relaxed.
“You're awake.”
Isabella stared at him.
“Where's Alessandro?”
“Coming.”
She smiled faintly.
“You're afraid of him.”
Viktor laughed.
“No.”
“You kidn*pped me because you can't defeat him.”
His smile disappeared.
“You sound like your father.”
“My father wasn't afraid of you either.”
Viktor walked closer.
“He should have been.”
“What do you want?”
“I want Alessandro to surrender.”
“His empire?”
“Everything.”
Isabella frowned.
“Why?”
“Because power is the only language men like him understand.”
“You're wrong.”
Viktor leaned toward her.
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“Alessandro doesn't care about his empire anymore.”
Viktor's expression tightened.
“He cares about me.”
“Yes.”
“And that makes him weak.”
“No.”
Isabella smiled.
“It makes him dangerous.”
The old opera house stood abandoned beneath the night sky.
Alessandro arrived alone.
He stepped through the broken doors.
“Viktor!”
His voice echoed through the empty theater.
Lights slowly came on.
One after another.
Viktor appeared on the stage.
Isabella was beside him.
Alessandro's heart stopped.
She looked exhausted.
But she was standing.
Alive.
His eyes locked with hers.
“Are you hurt?”
Isabella shook her head.
“I'm okay.”
Viktor laughed.
“Still worried about her.”
Alessandro ignored him.
“Let her go.”
“First, the choice.”
Viktor gestured toward two tables.
On the first was a folder.
On the second was a gun.
“Sign the documents,” Viktor said.
Alessandro looked at the folder.
“What's inside?”
“Ownership of your entire organization.”
Silence.
“You want the Moretti empire.”
“I want everything.”
“And if I sign?”
“She walks free.”
Alessandro looked at Isabella.
She shook her head.
“No.”
Viktor turned toward her.
“You don't get a vote.”
“Yes, I do.”
She looked at Alessandro.
“Don't sign.”
His expression broke.
“Isabella.”
“If you surrender everything, he wins.”
“I don't care.”
“I do.”
He stared at her.
“You're more important than the empire.”
“And you're more important than revenge.”
Viktor's face hardened.
“Enough.”
He placed the gun on the table.
“Sign.”
Alessandro walked toward the documents.
Isabella watched him.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
“Look at me,” she said.
He did.
“I love you.”
The words seemed to silence the entire theater.
Alessandro's eyes filled with emotion.
“I love you too.”
“Then trust me.”
He stared at her.
“I have a plan.”
Viktor laughed.
“You have no plan.”
Isabella looked at him.
“You're right.”
Then she smiled.
“You made one mistake.”
Viktor frowned.
“What?”
“You thought Alessandro came alone.”
The lights suddenly exploded.
Gunfire erupted throughout the theater.
Viktor's men turned toward the balconies.
Moretti soldiers appeared from the shadows.
Marco stood at the entrance.
Alessandro moved instantly.
He reached Isabella.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
He cut her restraints.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She touched his face.
“You came.”
“Always.”
A gunshot rang out.
Viktor escaped through a hidden passage.
Alessandro started after him.
Isabella grabbed his hand.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“He's getting away.”
“I know.”
“We have him.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Not yet.”
She pulled out a small device from her pocket.
Alessandro stared at it.
“What is that?”
“A tracker.”
“Where did you get it?”
“From Viktor.”
His eyes widened.
“You planted it on him?”
She smiled.
“I told you I had a plan.”
For the first time that night, Alessandro laughed.
“You're unbelievable.”
“So I've been told.”
They followed the signal beneath the city.
The tracker led them to an underground command center.
Viktor's headquarters.
The walls were covered with photographs.
The Moretti family.
The Romano family.
Daniel.
Alessandro's father.
Maria.
Elena.
And Isabella.
Hundreds of photographs.
Years of surveillance.
Alessandro stared at them.
“He's been watching us for years.”
Isabella walked toward one photograph.
It showed her as a child.
Beside it was another.
Her father holding her.
Then another.
Maria standing in the background.
She noticed something.
A date.
The same date appeared on every photograph.
Her birthday.
Isabella's face went pale.
“Alessandro.”
He turned.
“Look.”
She pointed toward a file.
On the cover were four words:
THE ISABELLA PROJECT — FINAL PHASE
Alessandro opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Daniel.
Underneath it was a handwritten message.
He hid the evidence where she would never think to look.
Isabella's heart raced.
“What did my father hide?”
Alessandro turned the page.
His expression changed.
“Isabella…”
“What?”
He showed her the final document.
It contained a location.
Her childhood home.
And underneath it:
THE TRUTH IS BENEATH HER BEDROOM.
Suddenly, the lights went out.
A slow clap echoed through the darkness.
Viktor's voice came from somewhere above them.
“You finally found it.”
Isabella looked up.
“But you're too late.”
The room filled with the sound of a countdown.
10.
Alessandro grabbed Isabella's hand.
9.
“Run!”
8.
They raced toward the exit.
7.
Behind them, Viktor laughed.
6.
“Choose carefully, Alessandro.”
5.
“The girl…”
4.
“…or the truth.”
3.
Isabella looked at Alessandro.
2.
“We choose both.”
1.
The entire building exploded.
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