Chapter 11 - The Lion's Judgment|
Within sixty seconds, Luca’s tactical security team swarmed the school parking lot, securing the perimeter with lethal efficiency.
The three surviving assailants were pinned facedown against the wet asphalt with heavy boots pressing against their necks.
Luca didn't spare them a second glance; he sprinted through the pouring rain straight toward Samuel and me.
He fell to his knees in the puddles, pulling Samuel against his chest with such desperate force that the boy gasped for air.
“Are you hurt? Did they touch you? Talk to me, Sammy!” Luca pleaded, his hands frantically checking his brother for injuries.
“I’m okay, Luca! I hit one of them with the bat!” Samuel cried, trembling as the adrenaline washed away into tears.
Luca looked at the broken kidnapper writhing in the grass, then looked at the maple bat lying in the puddle.
A fierce, proud smile broke through Luca’s terror before he turned his attention immediately to me.
He gently helped me up from the wet ground, examining the scrape along my jawline with genuine concern.
“You put your body between my brother and armed men, Hannah,” Luca said, his voice thick with profound emotion.
“I will never forget this as long as I live.”
“He’s family, Mr. Moretti,” I said through chattering teeth.
“I wasn’t going to let them take him.”
Luca nodded slowly, taking off his heavy black wool overcoat and draping it securely over my shivering shoulders.
Then, his eyes turned to ice as he turned toward the masked men restrained on the ground.
He walked over to the man Samuel had struck, ripping the black ski mask off the man’s sweaty, pale face.
It was Marco Bellini.
“Marco,” Luca whispered, his tone terrifyingly quiet beneath the rolling crash of thunder.
“Luca, please! It was my father’s idea!” Marco sobbed, coughing up blood from his shattered knee.
“We just wanted leverage to force you to renegotiate the shipping contracts! We weren't going to hurt the boy!”
Luca crouched down, placing one heavy leather boot firmly on Marco’s unbroken hand.
“You brought violence to my brother’s school,” Luca said, his voice flat, devoid of any human mercy.
“You made him afraid in his own city.”
“Tell your father that the Moretti family is coming to his estate tonight.”
“And tell him to bring his surrender documents, or he will not live to see tomorrow’s sunrise.”
Luca didn't strike him again; he didn't need to.
The absolute certainty in Luca’s promise was far more terrifying than any physical weapon could ever be.
He turned back to his men, gesturing toward the whimpering Bellini heir.
“Hand them over to the federal authorities along with the security footage,” Luca commanded coldly.
May you like
“Let them spend the next thirty years in a federal penitentiary for attempted kidnapping.”
“The Bellini name ends tonight.”
