Chapter 5 - The Ultimatum in the Courtyard
By dawn, the gunfire had subsided into an eerie, smoking silence.
The marble floors of the grand foyer were stained with blood and soot. Viktor and our remaining loyal guards swept the perimeter, dragging unconscious mercenaries into a pile by the double doors. Marcus Vance, cornered and bleeding from a shoulder wound, stood in the center of the courtyard, holding a detonator in one hand and keeping Alina’s father—whom they had dragged up from the guesthouse—hostage at gunpoint.
“Drop your weapons, Dante!” Marcus shrieked, his face twisted in manic desperation. “One click of this remote, and this whole estate—and your precious father-in-law—goes up in smoke!”
I walked out through the shattered glass doors, my expression an impassive mask of stone. Alina walked right beside me, her pistol steady, aimed squarely at Marcus’s chest.
“You played a dangerous game, Marcus,” I said, my voice echoing coldly across the courtyard. “Using your cousin Julian as a patsy, trying to poison my wedding, and thinking you could inherit the Moretti empire.”
“Julian was a fool!” Marcus laughed hysterically. “He got caught! But I survived, Dante. And now, you either sign over half your territories to me, or I turn your bride and her father into red mist!”
Alina looked at her father, then at me. I caught her eye. There was no fear left between us—only absolute, synchronized trust.
“Dante,” she whispered softly.
“I know,” I replied.
Before Marcus could twitch his thumb toward the detonator, Alina didn't aim at him—she fired at the thick oak branch directly above Marcus’s head. The heavy limb, weakened by our earlier shootout, snapped violently downward, crashing directly onto Marcus’s arm and sending the detonator flying into the fountain.
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With animal speed, I closed the distance, kicking the gun out of his hand and slamming Marcus face-first into the freezing stone pavement. My boot planted firmly between his shoulder blades.
“It’s over, Marcus,” I whispered, pressing the barrel of my gun against the back of his neck.
