The Last Betrayal
1733 Words
Chapter 18: The Last Betrayal
The world disappeared in fire.
For one endless second, Isabella felt nothing.
No sound.
No ground.
No air.
Only heat.
Then something slammed into her.
Alessandro.
His body covered hers as the ceiling collapsed around them.
Dust filled her lungs.
She tried to move.
“Alessandro?”
No answer.
Her heart stopped.
“Alessandro!”
She pushed against the debris.
His arm moved.
“I’m here.”
The relief almost broke her.
“You're hurt.”
“So are you.”
“I can walk.”
“So can I.”
They looked at each other through the dust.
Then the silence returned.
Too quiet.
The explosion had destroyed most of the command center, but the structure beneath them remained standing.
Barely.
Alessandro pulled Isabella to her feet.
“We need to get out.”
They moved through a narrow passage as alarms screamed somewhere underground.
Then Isabella stopped.
“Wait.”
Alessandro turned.
“What?”
She heard something.
A faint metallic sound.
Like a door unlocking.
The wall beside them opened.
A hidden passage.
Behind it was a small room untouched by the explosion.
Inside stood a single desk.
And a single chair.
Someone had been waiting.
Isabella's stomach tightened.
Alessandro raised his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
“I won't.”
He glanced at her.
“Then beside me.”
They entered together.
A laptop sat open on the desk.
The screen displayed one sentence.
YOU FOUND THE TRUTH. NOW FIND THE TRAITOR.
A recording began automatically.
Viktor appeared on the screen.
His face was bruised.
But he was smiling.
“You survived.”
Alessandro stepped closer.
“Where are you?”
Viktor ignored him.
“You've spent years believing betrayal came from your enemies.”
The screen changed.
Photographs appeared.
The security chief.
Several Moretti soldiers.
Members of the Romano family.
Then—
Marco.
Isabella stared at the screen.
“Why is Marco there?”
Another photograph appeared.
Marco entering a warehouse at night.
Another showed him meeting a stranger.
Another showed him standing outside one of the Moretti safe houses.
The dates stretched across several years.
Isabella looked at Alessandro.
“He's been meeting people behind your back.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“Maybe.”
Another image appeared.
A bank transfer.
The recipient's name was hidden.
The sender was listed as M. Moretti Security.
The date was six years earlier.
Isabella looked at him.
“That was Marco's division.”
“Yes.”
The screen changed again.
A security log appeared.
PATROL ROUTE CHANGED — AUTHORIZED BY M.
Then another.
CAMERA SYSTEM DISABLED — AUTHORIZED BY M.
Isabella's pulse quickened.
“That looks bad.”
“It does.”
Then a final file appeared.
A medical record.
A hospital.
A name.
LUCIA RINALDI.
Beside it was the name of a child.
DAVIDE RINALDI.
Isabella frowned.
“Who are they?”
Alessandro stared at the screen.
“I don't know.”
The recording continued.
Viktor smiled.
“Everyone has a price.”
The screen went black.
Then one final sentence appeared.
ASK MARCO WHAT HE DID SIX YEARS AGO.
A sound came from behind them.
A gun clicking.
They turned.
Marco stood in the doorway.
His weapon was raised.
Isabella froze.
Alessandro lifted his gun.
“Marco.”
Marco's face was unreadable.
“Don't shoot.”
“Put the gun down.”
Marco slowly lowered it.
“I came to get you out.”
Alessandro didn't lower his weapon.
“Then explain the photographs.”
Marco glanced at the screen.
His expression changed.
Not surprise.
Not exactly fear.
Recognition.
“You found them.”
Isabella caught the words.
“You knew they were there?”
Marco looked at her.
“Yes.”
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
“How long?”
Marco hesitated.
“Too long.”
Silence.
Alessandro stepped closer.
“Did you change the patrol routes?”
“Yes.”
“Disable cameras?”
“Yes.”
“Meet Viktor's people?”
Marco's face tightened.
“Yes.”
Isabella felt her stomach drop.
“You were helping him.”
Marco looked directly at her.
“No.”
“Then what were you doing?”
Marco said nothing.
Alessandro's voice hardened.
“You've got one chance.”
Marco reached into his coat.
Alessandro immediately aimed his gun.
Marco stopped.
Slowly, he removed a small envelope.
He placed it on the desk.
“I was ordered to move those patrols.”
“By Viktor?”
“No.”
“By who?”
Marco looked at Alessandro.
“Your father.”
That silenced the room.
Alessandro stared at him.
“My father died years ago.”
“He gave me instructions before he died.”
“For what?”
“To move people away from certain locations.”
“Why?”
“I was never told everything.”
Isabella looked at the laptop.
“And the meetings?”
Marco's expression darkened.
“Those weren't meetings with Viktor.”
He pointed at the bank transfer.
“That money wasn't for him.”
“Then who?”
Marco looked at the medical records.
“The hospital.”
Isabella picked up the file.
“Lucia Rinaldi.”
Marco's voice dropped.
“My wife.”
Isabella looked up.
“The child?”
“My daughter.”
Silence.
Alessandro lowered his weapon slightly.
“Why were their names hidden?”
“Because Viktor was looking for them.”
Marco swallowed.
“He had them under surveillance.”
Isabella looked at the records again.
“You changed security routes to protect your family?”
“And yours.”
Alessandro's eyes sharpened.
“What?”
Marco looked at him.
“There were six occasions when Viktor planned to hit Moretti properties.”
He pointed toward the photographs.
“I changed the patrol routes because I knew where he was looking.”
“You're saying you sabotaged security to protect us?”
“I sabotaged the system Viktor had already compromised.”
Alessandro said nothing.
Then Isabella noticed something.
A photograph on the laptop showed Marco meeting a masked man.
She pointed to it.
“Then who is that?”
Marco's face went pale.
“I don't know.”
“You met him.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“I was told he'd give me information about Viktor.”
“By whom?”
Marco looked toward the envelope.
“I never learned his name.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“Convenient.”
Marco flinched.
“Believe what you want.”
He turned away.
Isabella opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Daniel.
On the back was a handwritten sentence:
IF MARCO BRINGS THIS TO YOU, DO NOT TRUST HIM.
Isabella's blood ran cold.
She looked up.
Marco saw the photograph.
His face changed.
“I didn't know that was written there.”
“Then why did you bring it?”
“Because Daniel asked me to.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“When?”
“Three days before he died.”
Isabella's breath caught.
“My father trusted you?”
Marco looked at her.
“He did.”
She looked back at the photograph.
There was more writing beneath the first sentence.
A second line, almost invisible.
But if he comes anyway, listen to what he says.
Isabella's hands trembled.
“Why would Daniel write both?”
Marco shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Alessandro's voice was quiet.
“That's the problem.”
Marco looked at him.
“What?”
“We don't know which part of your story is true.”
Marco's eyes filled with something Isabella couldn't name.
Regret.
Fear.
Or guilt.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot tore through the darkness.
Marco staggered.
Isabella screamed.
Alessandro caught him before he hit the floor.
Blood spread across Marco's shirt.
“Marco!”
He struggled to breathe.
“Don't…”
“Don't what?”
“Don't trust…”
His eyes moved toward Isabella.
“…the first person who tells you I betrayed you.”
Another gunshot struck the wall.
Alessandro pulled Isabella behind the desk.
“Stay down.”
Marco tried to speak again.
“They're waiting…”
“Who?”
Marco's eyes fluttered.
“The house…”
Alessandro leaned closer.
“Which house?”
“The Romano house.”
Isabella's face went pale.
“My childhood home?”
Marco gave the slightest nod.
Then his eyes closed.
Silence.
Alessandro looked toward the doorway.
Who had shot Marco?
Viktor?
One of his own men?
Or someone trying to silence him before he could reveal the truth?
Isabella picked up the photograph again.
She looked at the two sentences.
IF MARCO BRINGS THIS TO YOU, DO NOT TRUST HIM.
Then:
But if he comes anyway, listen to what he says.
She looked at Marco lying on the floor.
“He could have killed us.”
Alessandro nodded.
“He could have.”
“But he didn't.”
“No.”
“He also admitted to changing our security.”
“Yes.”
“And he met people connected to Viktor.”
“Yes.”
“But he may have done it to protect his family.”
Alessandro looked at the medical records.
“And possibly us.”
Neither of them spoke.
Then Alessandro's phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
No number.
No name.
Just one photograph.
Marco standing beside Viktor.
The photograph was dated six years earlier.
Below it were four words:
ASK HIM WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.
Isabella's blood ran cold.
She looked at an unconscious Marco.
There was no way to know whether the photograph proved betrayal—
Or whether someone wanted them to believe it did.
Alessandro put the phone away.
“We're going to the Romano house.”
Isabella nodded.
“But we're not taking Marco.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I don't know whether he's our greatest threat…”
She looked down at the envelope.
“…or the only person who has been protecting us.”
For the first time, Alessandro had no answer.
And somewhere in the distance, a phone began to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The screen showed one name.
ELENA.
Alessandro answered.
Neither of them spoke.
A woman's voice whispered through the darkness.
“Don't go to the house.”
The line went dead.
Isabella looked at Alessandro.
Then at Marco.
Then at the photograph.
Someone was lying.
The only question was—
who?
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