Chapter 14 - I CHOSE MY FAMILY
Michael had escaped federal custody during transport.
Because apparently my ex-fiancé had dedicated his entire existence to disappointing me.
Matteo struggled.
Michael pressed a gun to his head.
“Stop!”
I raised my hands.
Dante became deadly still.
“Michael.”
“Don’t.”
Michael’s face was soaked with sweat.
“I’m leaving with Elena.”
I almost laughed.
“No.”
His eyes snapped toward me.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand you perfectly now.”
Caruso stood behind him.
Smiling.
He had Salvatore’s backup men around the room.
Dante’s guards were pinned outside.
Caruso held out his hand.
“The drive.”
My father stepped forward.
“You want me.”
Caruso smiled.
“Gabriel.”
“Let them go.”
“No.”
I looked at Dante.
Then at Matteo.
Then at the drive on the floor.
An idea formed.
A reckless one.
Naturally.
I grabbed the drive.
“Everybody stop.”
Caruso looked at me.
“Elena.”
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“It contains everything?”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
I walked toward the fireplace.
Caruso’s smile vanished.
“Don’t.”
I held the drive above the flames.
Michael tightened his grip on Matteo.
“Elena!”
“Let him go.”
Caruso’s face darkened.
“You destroy that, your father dies.”
“Maybe.”
My father stared at me.
“But you lose everything.”
I lowered the drive closer.
Plastic began to warm.
“Three.”
Caruso raised his hand.
“Wait.”
“Two.”
Michael panicked.
He pulled Matteo closer.
Dante’s gaze fixed on me.
He understood.
“One.”
I dropped the drive.
Caruso shouted.
Every eye went toward the fireplace.
Dante moved.
He shot Michael’s gun hand.
Matteo dropped.
I ran.
Grabbed him.
Covered him.
Just like the restaurant.
Dante’s men crashed through the side entrance.
Gunfire erupted.
Caruso ran for the back door.
My father tackled him.
Both men hit the floor.
Caruso reached for a weapon.
Gabriel punched him.
Twenty years of fear came out in one hit.
Federal agents stormed the property seconds later.
This time, Caruso didn’t escape.
He was arrested.
Salvatore survived and was arrested too.
Michael lay screaming on the floor.
I looked at the fireplace.
The drive burned.
Dante stared at me.
“You destroyed the only evidence.”
I smiled.
“No.”
I pulled another drive from my pocket.
“My father made three copies.”
Dante stared.
Gabriel laughed.
“That’s my girl.”
“You could have told me.”
“And ruin the dramatic moment?”
Dante shook his head.
“You are impossible.”
Matteo hugged my waist.
“Elena?”
“Yes?”
“Can we go home now?”
Home.
The word hit me harder than expected.
I looked at Dante.
He didn’t pressure me.
Didn’t order me.
Didn’t assume.
He simply waited.
For once, the choice belonged entirely to me.
I took Matteo’s hand.
Then I took Dante’s.
“Yes.”
We went home.
But one question remained.
May you like
Was the Moretti estate really my home?
Or had I simply survived long enough to mistake safety for love?
