Chapter 6 - The Bullet and the Child
Before Rossi’s finger could pull the trigger, a shot rang out from the archway.
It wasn't Alessandro. It wasn't Marco.
From the service doorway, standing half-hidden behind a marble pillar, I stood with my hands trembling around the heavy service pistol Marco had left on the cleaning cart twenty minutes ago. The smoke drifted lazily from the barrel as Rossi’s revolver clattered uselessly onto the marble floor, his right shoulder blooming with crimson.
Rossi collapsed to his knees, howling in pain as two guards descended on him like wolves, stripping away his weapons and pinning him to the ground.
The entire hall turned in stunned silence to look at me. I was just a housekeeper in a faded uniform, holding a gun that felt too heavy for my hands, shielding my daughter who still clutched her blue rabbit in the corridor behind me.
Alessandro slowly turned his head, looking past the struggling traitor on the floor straight at me. The cold, untouchable mafia king looked entirely dismantled in that single instant.
"Elena," he said, using my first name for the very first time. His voice wasn't a command; it was a breath.
I lowered the gun, letting it drop to the floor with a heavy clatter. My knees felt weak, and for a second, I thought I was going to collapse right there on the polished marble—not from fear of the criminals around me, but from the terrifying realization of what I had just done.
Alessandro crossed the room in two strides, ignoring the chaos around him, and stopped right in front of me. He didn't care about the blood on the floor or the staring capos. He gently placed his hands on my shoulders, steadying me.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, his eyes scanning my face with an intensity that burned right through my defenses.
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"No," I whispered, tears finally breaking free and spilling down my cheeks. "I just... I couldn't let him shoot you. Not after everything."
Alessandro pulled me gently toward him, wrapping his arms around me in front of twelve of the most feared men in the underworld, offering a sanctuary of warmth in a world built entirely on blood and betrayal.
