Chapter 2: The Traitor Behind the Umbrella
Chapter 2: The Traitor Behind the Umbrella
Time slowed.
Through the haze of blood and rain, Lena's blurred vision caught something no one else noticed.
Caruso's pistol wasn't pointed toward the rooftops where the assassins had fired from.
It was aimed squarely at Marco's back.
She tried to speak.
Nothing came out.
Marco was too focused on pressing both hands against the wounds in her shoulder and chest.
"Ambulance!" he roared. "Move!"
The guards scattered, believing the attack was still coming from outside.
Only Lena saw the real danger.
She gathered every ounce of strength she had left and reached for Marco's jacket.
"Behind..." she whispered.
Marco leaned closer.
"What?"
Caruso squeezed the trigger.
Bang.
Lena reacted on instinct.
She shoved Marco sideways.
The bullet grazed Marco's ribs instead of piercing his heart.
The next instant, chaos exploded.
"What the hell?"
Gunfire erupted inside the estate.
Loyal guards turned toward Caruso in disbelief as he opened fire on Marco's own security detail.
Two men dropped instantly.
Caruso sprinted toward a waiting SUV outside the gates while hidden mercenaries emerged from nearby vehicles, providing cover.
"He was one of us!" a guard shouted.
"Not anymore!"
Marco rolled across the wet pavement, drawing the pistol from the ankle holster he rarely needed.
His first shot shattered the driver's windshield.
His second blew out a front tire.
The SUV crashed into the stone fountain before it could escape.
Caruso disappeared into the smoke.
"Find him!" Marco thundered.
"No one leaves this property alive!"
But Marco never chased the traitor.
He turned back to Lena.
Blood covered nearly half her body now.
Her pulse had become dangerously faint.
She looked smaller than ever lying on the cold marble steps.
The woman he had called nobody.
The woman who had just saved both his mother... and his own life.
Marco carefully lifted her into his arms.
"Stay awake."
"I'll... try."
"You don't get to die."
A weak smile touched her lips.
"Still... giving orders..."
His voice broke.
May you like
"Please."
It was the first time anyone inside the DeLuca family had ever heard Marco DeLuca beg.
