Chapter 20 - The Final Echo
The courtyard was a war zone.
Two black sedans were overturned, burning furiously in the front lawn, casting flickering orange hellfire against the limestone walls. Shell casings littered the gravel like autumn leaves.
Julian didn't wait for his men. He kicked the door open, his assault rifle raised, Josie right behind him.
They ran through the smoke-filled foyer. The grand double doors to the underground bunker stood ajar—the heavy electronic locking mechanism had been bypassed from the inside.
"A mole," Dante swore, blood dripping from a cut above his eye as he covered the stairs. "Someone had the master override codes."
Josie didn't care about codes. She lunged down the concrete stairs, her heels discarded, her bare feet slapping against the cold floor.
"Poppy!" she screamed, her voice tearing her throat raw. "Poppy!"
She reached the medical room.
The glass was intact, but the reinforced door was wide open. The room was empty.
The cartoon was still playing silently on the screen. The small lavender bear lay abandoned on the linoleum, beside an overturned tray of medicine and a pool of fresh blood.
Josie fell to her knees, clutching the stuffed bear to her chest, a sound of unimaginable agony tearing from her soul.
"Julian," a voice called out smoothly from the shadows of the secondary corridor.
Julian stepped in front of Josie, his rifle leveled instantly at the darkness.
A man stepped into the red emergency light. He was dressed in a pristine gray suit, holding a silver walking cane in one hand. But it wasn't Don Castiglione. It wasn't Marco.
It was Dr. Rossi—Poppy’s personal physician. The man Julian had trusted with his life, the man who had overseen Poppy's recovery since day one.
Behind Rossi stood four heavily armed mercenaries wearing unmarked tactical gear. And in the arms of one of them, wrapped in a blanket, was Poppy—unconscious, but breathing softly.
"Step down, Julian," Rossi said, his voice calm, devoid of any warmth. "Or the child receives an air embolism into her central line right now."
Julian’s rifle lowered an inch, his jaw grinding so hard the muscles jumped beneath his skin. "You, Rossi? You were my father’s friend."
"Your father was a fool who believed in loyalty," Rossi sneered. "Just like you. Did you really think Sal’s rebellion was about territory? Or Castiglione's ancient pride?"
Rossi smiled, a cold, sickening expression that turned Josie's blood to ice. He pulled a yellowed, stamped medical file from his inside coat pocket and tossed it onto the floor between them.
"You should have read the child’s full genetic workup before you brought her into your house, Julian," Rossi whispered.
Josie gasped, her eyes flying from the file to Julian.
"What are you talking about?" Julian rasped, his voice suddenly hollow, an instinctual dread creeping into his spine.
Rossi chuckled softly.
"Tell him, Josephine," Rossi murmured, his eyes glittering in the dark. "Tell your new husband who Poppy’s real father is... and why your daughter’s blood is the only thing that can unlock the Moretti family vaults."
Julian slowly turned his head to look down at Josie.
The silence in the concrete basement was suffocating, louder than any gunshot.
May you like
Josie clutched the lavender bear, her lips parting, paralyzed by the ghost of a secret she had buried six years ago—a secret that was about to blow the entire underworld apart.
Outside, the first wail of federal sirens echoed through the burning gates.
