Chapter 6 - The Choice
Victor disappeared two days later.
That should have warned me.
Instead, he found Elise first.
She left the estate with two guards to meet her brother Daniel.
At 4:17 p.m., the vehicle was boxed in.
By 4:23, both guards were injured.
At 4:26, Elise was gone.
My phone rang at five.
Victor's voice.
"Miss me?"
I nearly crushed the phone.
"If you've hurt her—"
"Relax. She's breathing."
A second voice came onto the line.
Lucian Vescari.
My oldest enemy.
"Alessandro."
"What do you want?"
"Pier Twelve."
"No."
"And the containers arriving tonight."
"No."
"Then the nanny dies."
I closed my eyes.
Marco stood across the room.
Waiting.
Lucian laughed.
"Interesting, isn't it?"
"What?"
"Two years ago, you would have let me shoot a hundred civilians before surrendering a dock."
"Elise isn't a civilian."
"No?"
His amusement deepened.
"Then what is she?"
I didn't answer.
"Exactly."
He gave me an address.
An abandoned warehouse near the river.
"Come alone."
I looked at Marco.
He shook his head immediately.
I ignored him.
Two hours later, I entered the warehouse.
Alone.
At least, that's what Vescari believed.
Elise was tied to a chair.
Victor stood behind her.
Lucian held the gun.
Elise saw me.
"You came?"
"Of course I came."
Her eyes flashed.
"You idiot."
Victor laughed.
"She really likes you."
"Shut up," Elise snapped.
Even tied to a chair, she wasn't afraid of him anymore.
Lucian smiled.
"Documents."
I tossed a folder onto the table.
Control of Pier Twelve.
Access codes.
Shipping routes.
Millions of dollars.
Years of power.
Lucian opened it.
"You're serious."
"Let her go."
Victor stared at me.
"You'd give all this up for a nanny?"
I looked at Elise.
"No."
Her face changed.
Victor smiled.
Then I continued.
"I'd give it up for family."
Elise stopped breathing.
Lucian's smile vanished.
"Touching."
He lifted the pistol.
"But stupid."
The lights went out.
Marco's team moved immediately.
Gunshots cracked through the warehouse.
Elise threw herself sideways.
Victor grabbed her.
"Don't move!"
He pressed a gun against her head.
I aimed at him.
"Let her go."
"You ruined my life!"
"No."
Elise's voice was suddenly calm.
"You did that yourself."
Victor looked down.
Wrong move.
Elise drove the heel of her shoe into his foot.
Victor screamed.
She slammed her head backward into his face.
He staggered.
I crossed the distance before he recovered.
One punch.
He hit the floor.
My gun pointed at his chest.
Victor stared up at me.
"Do it."
My finger tightened.
Then Elise said one word.
"Alessandro."
I looked at her.
She shook her head.
I lowered the weapon.
Police sirens approached.
Victor blinked.
"You called cops?"
I smiled coldly.
"Apparently I've become civilized."
Marco cuffed him.
Lucian and his men were arrested after Vincent's evidence linked them to multiple crimes.
Outside the warehouse, Elise stood wrapped in my coat.
I checked the cut on her cheek.
"Does that hurt?"
"Not as much as watching you surrender a port worth forty million dollars."
"The documents were fake."
She stared at me.
"You lied?"
"I'm a criminal."
"Former criminal, supposedly."
"Old habits."
She smiled.
Then she slapped me.
Hard.
I blinked.
"What was that for?"
"For coming alone."
"I wasn't alone."
"You know what I mean."
Then she threw her arms around me.
I froze.
Only for a second.
I held her.
She whispered against my chest.
"You terrified me."
"You were kidnapped."
"I was talking about you."
Something inside me finally surrendered.
I pulled back.
Then kissed her.
Not because I had forgotten Sophia.
Not because grief had ended.
May you like
But because life had continued.
And for the first time, I allowed myself to continue with it.
