Chapter 6 - The Rooftop ReckoningThe high-altitude winds screamed across the rooftop helipad, whipping Alessia’s tear-stained hair across her face. The storm had fully arrived; torrential rain poured from the night sky, drenching them in seconds and washing the blood from Valerio's shoulder wound.
The private DeLuca helicopter sat in the center of the pad, its rotors slowly spinning up to speed.
Valerio carried Alessia to the passenger side, placing her gently into the leather seat and strapping the five-point safety harness across her chest.
"Can you hear me, Alessia?" Valerio asked, leaning close so she could hear him over the roar of the engines and the storm.
"Valerio, your shoulder... you're losing too much blood!" she sobbed, reaching for him.
"I've survived worse," he lied, pressing a small, metallic flash drive into her hand. "This contains every piece of intelligence Lucian gathered on the Bratva. If anything happens to me, you give this to the federal authorities in Switzerland. They will grant you protection."
"No! I'm not leaving without you!" she screamed, grabbing his collar. "Don't do this!"
"You have to," Valerio said softly. He leaned down and kissed her deeply, a fierce, desperate kiss that tasted of rain and copper. "You are my heart, Alessia. A man can live without his legs, but he cannot live without his heart."
Before she could scream again, he closed the heavy door of the helicopter and slapped the side panel twice, signaling the pilot to take off.
The helicopter began to lift into the air, its searchlights cutting through the darkness.
Alessia pressed her hands against the glass, watching Valerio stand alone on the rain-slicked helipad, his black suit soaked through, holding his weapon at his side.
Then, the heavy steel door leading to the roof burst open.
Eleanor DeLuca stepped onto the roof, accompanied by four surviving mercenaries armed with assault rifles.
"Valerio!" Eleanor’s voice was amplified by a bullhorn. "Order that helicopter to land immediately! Don't make me shoot down my own son!"
Valerio turned to face his mother, standing tall in the pouring rain. "You stopped being my mother the moment you targeted my wife."
"She is a weapon! A biological vault created by our greatest enemies!" Eleanor screamed back. "You were meant to rule Europe, Valerio! Not sacrifice everything for a girl who doesn't even know what she is!"
"She is my wife," Valerio repeated, raising his gun and aiming it directly at Eleanor's chest. "And this is where your reign ends."
"Kill him," Eleanor commanded cold-bloodedly.
The mercenaries raised their rifles. But before they could pull their triggers, a sniper bullet tore through the skull of the lead mercenary from a mile away.
A second later, another mercenary fell, then a third.
Valerio grinned through the rain. "Did you really think I didn't have my own team in position?"
From the shadows of the air conditioning units, Valerio’s loyal elite guards materialized, opening fire on Eleanor's remaining men. The rooftop descended into a bloody firefight.
Valerio sprinted forward, dodging bullets, and tackled Eleanor to the ground, disarming her with a single brutal twist of her wrist.
The gold pistol skidded across the wet concrete and tumbled over the edge of the building.
Valerio pinned his mother to the floor, his forearm pressed against her throat. "It's over, Eleanor."
Eleanor choked, glaring at him with pure hatred. "You think you've won? Look at the sky, Valerio!"
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Valerio glanced up.
High above the clouds, a military-grade drone was closing in on the escaping helicopter, its red locking laser painted directly onto the aircraft carrying Alessia.
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