Chapter 6 - The Maid Who Stood Between WolvesThe first gun came out at 11:43 p.m.
It was not fired.
It did not need to be.
One of Bruno’s guards, a young man named Luca, drew it from beneath his jacket and aimed it at the marble floor between Alejandro and the security room door.
A warning.
A line.
A choice.
Clara stepped in front of Emma before she understood she had moved.
Alejandro saw it.
So did everyone else.
The maid placed herself between a mafia boss, a traitor, six armed men, and her child.
Doctor Vale backed against the wall, clutching his medical bag.
Sofia’s eyes glittered.
Bruno looked pained. “No one needs to die tonight.”
Alejandro laughed once.
It came out raw and ugly.
“You poisoned the wrong man if you wanted peace.”
“I did not poison you.”
“But you protected the woman who did.”
Bruno’s jaw flexed.
Sofia said, “Tell him, Bruno.”
“Quiet.”
“No,” Alejandro said. “Let her speak.”
Sofia stepped forward, silk whispering around her ankles. “You were supposed to die quickly. Cleanly. Tragically. A private allergy. A grieving fiancée. A loyal friend discovering documents that proved you ordered the hit on Senator Halden’s son.”
Alejandro’s expression did not change, but Clara saw his fingers tighten.
“That boy died in a car crash,” he said.
Sofia smiled. “People believe what papers tell them when the man accused is dead.”
Bruno closed his eyes.
Clara suddenly understood the folded document.
It was not only murder.
It was inheritance.
It was territory.
It was a public excuse for every enemy to tear the Moretti empire apart while Bruno stood above the wreckage claiming he had tried to save it.
“But why?” Clara whispered.
Sofia turned toward her with contempt. “Because men like Alejandro call women decorative until the day we learn where they keep their keys.”
Emma began to tremble.
Alejandro noticed.
His voice lowered. “Clara, take Emma and go behind me.”
“No,” Clara said.
He glanced at her.
“She has no medicine now,” Clara said. “If something happens to her, she has nothing.”
The words hit harder than any accusation.
Alejandro looked at Emma’s empty backpack.
For one moment, the mafia boss disappeared.
In his place stood a father looking at a child who had spent her last chance on him.
“Vale,” he said.
The doctor looked up. “Yes?”
“Call every pharmacy in the city. Every hospital. Every private clinic. I want replacements here now.”
Bruno exhaled bitterly. “You’re worried about medicine while your house is turning against you?”
Alejandro looked at him.
“No. I’m remembering what loyalty looks like.”
Then a sound came from the hall.
Small.
Mechanical.
Click.
Everyone turned.
Emma had reached into her rabbit backpack.
From the hidden side pocket, she pulled out her mother’s old phone.
The screen was lit.
May you like
The emergency call had connected.
And on speaker, a woman’s voice said, “911, what is your emergency?”
Related Stories
