Chapter 15 - Brothers Under Fire
The bullet struck the steel column inches from Adrian’s head.
Dominic tackled him to the concrete.
Luca drew his weapon and fired toward the warehouse rafters.
Hannah crawled behind a forklift while Celeste screamed from the chair.
Another shot shattered a hanging light.
Darkness swallowed half the building.
“Sniper!” Luca shouted.
Dominic grabbed Adrian’s jacket.
“Who followed you?”
“I don’t know!”
“Who knew we were meeting?”
“Nobody!”
A third round hit the concrete floor.
Adrian rolled behind a cargo container.
Dominic moved with him.
Despite twelve years apart, the brothers reacted with eerie instinct—covering opposite angles, anticipating each other’s movement.
Hannah reached Celeste.
“I’m getting you out.”
Her fingers attacked the rope.
Celeste trembled.
“Hannah, listen to me.”
“Later.”
“No. Listen.”
Something in Celeste’s tone made Hannah stop.
Celeste leaned close.
“Adrian didn’t kidnap me.”
Hannah stared.
“What?”
“I called him.”
Another gunshot rang out.
Hannah’s pulse thundered.
“Why?”
“Because someone has been trying to kill him for years.”
“Who?”
Celeste’s eyes filled with shame.
“My son.”
Hannah froze.
Celeste had one child.
Gabriel Moretti.
Dominic’s cousin.
A respected investment executive who had spent most of the last decade in London.
Hannah had met him twice.
Polite.
Charming.
Forgettable.
Which suddenly seemed dangerous.
“Gabriel?” Hannah whispered.
Celeste nodded.
“He found Salvatore’s offshore network after Adrian disappeared. He rebuilt it.”
The ropes finally loosened.
Hannah pulled Celeste down behind cover.
“Does Dominic know?”
“No.”
“You waited twelve years?”
“I didn’t know the truth until three months ago.”
Footsteps sounded overhead.
Luca fired.
A man fell from the catwalk, landing hard against stacked pallets.
Federal sirens screamed in the distance.
“Pierce!” Hannah shouted.
Agent Pierce’s tactical team stormed the warehouse.
The sniper fled toward the roof.
Luca followed with two agents.
Dominic dragged Adrian upright.
“Stay here.”
Adrian shoved him.
“You still think you can order everybody around.”
“You still think disappearing is a solution.”
“At least I didn’t become Dad.”
Dominic recoiled as though struck.
Hannah stepped between them.
“Both of you can destroy each other later.”
They looked at her.
“Right now, somebody just tried to shoot Adrian.”
Celeste emerged.
“Gabriel.”
Dominic stared at his aunt.
“What?”
Her face crumpled.
“My son ordered it.”
For the first time that night, Adrian lowered his pistol.
“You knew?”
“Not until recently.”
Dominic looked between them.
“What the hell is happening?”
Celeste told him.
After Salvatore’s death, Gabriel discovered a hidden collection of offshore accounts connected to shell companies, union contracts, real estate projects, and political bribes.
Instead of exposing them, he quietly took control.
Over twelve years, he had transformed Salvatore’s dirty side business into an international financial network.
Adrian had discovered it six months ago.
“That’s why I came back,” Adrian said.
Dominic laughed without humor.
“You came back by framing my wife?”
“I didn’t.”
The room fell silent.
“You transferred money into our foundation.”
“Yes.”
“Then regulators received forged documents.”
“Not from me.”
“Why send two million dollars?”
“To get your attention.”
“You had my phone number!”
“I didn’t know who around you was compromised.”
His gaze shifted toward Luca.
Luca had just returned.
Adrian glared at him.
“He kept secrets once.”
“To protect you,” Luca said.
“To control the damage.”
Hannah stepped closer to Adrian.
“Did you plant the tracker in Box Six?”
“Yes.”
“The photograph?”
“Yes.”
“The video?”
“Yes.”
“Did you threaten the foundation?”
“No.”
“Did you hire the sniper?”
Adrian’s eyes flashed.
“No.”
Dominic studied his brother.
“How do I know?”
Adrian reached beneath his shirt.
Luca raised his weapon.
“Easy.”
Adrian removed a small flash drive hanging from a cord.
“This contains copies of transactions from Gabriel’s network.”
Agent Pierce took it.
“Enough to arrest him?”
“Enough to start a war.”
Dominic’s phone vibrated.
Incoming video call.
Gabriel.
Dominic answered.
His cousin appeared on-screen in a dark suit, standing somewhere elegant and brightly lit.
“Dominic,” Gabriel said pleasantly. “Family reunions are always emotional.”
Celeste’s face twisted.
“Gabriel, stop this.”
Gabriel smiled at his mother.
“You always did prefer broken men you could rescue.”
Dominic’s voice was ice.
“You tried to kill Adrian.”
“No. I tried to solve a twelve-year-old inconvenience.”
Agent Pierce signaled technicians to trace the call.
Gabriel continued.
“And now I’ll solve another.”
The video switched.
Mason appeared on-screen.
He was unconscious.
Bound inside a vehicle.
Hannah stopped breathing.
Gabriel’s voice returned.
“You have something I want.”
Adrian looked at the flash drive.
Gabriel smiled.
“I have someone Hannah loves.”
Hannah stepped toward the phone.
“If you hurt my brother—”
“Oh, Mrs. Moretti.”
Gabriel’s smile widened.
“I don’t need to hurt him.”
The camera moved.
May you like
Behind Mason were cylinders marked with hazardous-warning labels.
“I only need Dominic to choose which brother he wants to save.”
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