Chapter 7 - THE FALSE CONFESSION
I stared at Adrian, completely paralyzed.
He looked like a ghost. His face was ashen, his shirt stained with wine and charcoal, sweat pouring down his forehead. He was breathing heavily, barely able to stand, yet his hand holding the gun was perfectly steady.
"Adrian?" I whispered, my voice shaking. "How... how did you get here?"
"I drove," he rasped, coughing violently. "Followed your taillights."
"But... your son is out there! Marco and Dante are going to kill Luca! We have to cut the lights!"
"No," Adrian said, stepping closer, the barrel of the gun pressing against my chest. "You don't understand, Emily. If you cut the lights, they’ll panic. They’ll shoot Leo. You have to stay out of this."
"You want them to kill Luca?" I breathed, horrified.
Adrian closed his eyes for a brief second. "It's the only way my family survives."
I realized then, with sickening clarity, that Adrian hadn't just been a pawn in Vanessa's scheme. He wasn't just a cheating husband who got cold feet.
"You knew," I whispered. "You knew Marco and Dante were involved. The poison... Vanessa didn't poison you because you were going to confess to Luca. She poisoned you because you were going to back out of the assassination."
Adrian swallowed hard. "I never wanted Luca dead. He’s my brother. But Marco... Marco threatened Allison. He said if I didn't help them bankrupt the family trust, he’d put a bullet in her head. I had to play along. I had to pretend the affair with Vanessa was real so I could stay close to her and monitor the plan."
My mind spun. "The affair was fake?"
"I never touched her," Adrian said, his voice cracking. "Seventeen years, Emily. I never looked at another woman. But I had to make Allison believe it so she’d hate me. So she’d stay away from the crossfire."
"You let your wife believe you broke her heart to save her life," I said, the tragedy of it hitting me hard.
"And now, I have to let my best friend die to save my son," Adrian said, tears finally falling. He raised the gun higher. "So don't touch that generator."
I looked past his shoulder. Out on the tarmac, Marco was raising his gun, pointing it squarely at Luca's chest. Allison was screaming, struggling against Luca's arm holding her back.
"Adrian, please," I begged. "Luca saved your life an hour ago! He shoved charcoal down your throat while your 'allies' left you to die! He defended me! He’s a good man!"
"He’s a dead man!" Adrian shouted, his resolve breaking.
"Then die fighting for him!" I yelled back, tears streaming down my face. "Your son is watching! Do you want Leo's last memory of his father to be a coward who let his best friend get murdered?!"
Adrian froze. He looked past me, toward the glaring floodlight, toward his little boy shivering in the cold.
Out on the runway, Marco pulled back the hammer of his gun. "Goodbye, little brother."
"NO!"
Adrian didn't shoot me. He turned and fired his gun straight up into the air.
BANG!
The gunshot echoed like thunder across the empty airfield.
Marco and Dante whipped around, startled by the noise coming from the shadows.
In that split second of distraction, Luca moved.
He didn't draw a weapon. He threw himself forward, tackling Dante to the ground. Dante’s gun went off, the bullet ricocheting off the asphalt.
Allison didn't hesitate. She ran straight into the line of fire, grabbing Leo by his coat and throwing her body over him to shield him from the chaos.
Marco aimed his gun at Luca, who was wrestling with Dante on the ground.
"Say goodnight, Luca!" Marco roared.
Before Marco could pull the trigger, Adrian stepped out of the shadows.
"Marco!" Adrian yelled.
Marco turned, aiming directly at Adrian.
BANG.
I screamed, covering my ears as Adrian fell backward into the gravel, clutching his shoulder.
But Marco hadn't just shot him. Adrian had fired too.
Marco dropped his weapon, falling to his knees, gripping his stomach.
The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by Leo's terrified sobbing.
Luca stood up slowly, tossing Dante's gun away. He looked at his older brothers, both bleeding on the tarmac. Then, he turned and saw Adrian lying in the dirt, bleeding profusely from his shoulder.
Luca walked over to Adrian. He looked down at the man who had lied to him, betrayed him, and then taken a bullet for him.
"Why, Adrian?" Luca asked softly.
Adrian coughed, blood staining his lips. He looked at Allison, who was holding Leo tight, staring at her husband in absolute shock.
"Because," Adrian whispered, "she's worth it."
Then, the sound of sirens pierced the night air. Red and blue lights flashed in the distance, speeding down the gravel road.
Luca frowned. "I told my men no police."
I stepped out of the shadows, trembling. "I... I didn't call them, sir."
A sleek black car pulled up ahead of the police cruisers. The door opened.
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Stepping out in her ruined red dress, flanked by two men in federal windbreakers, was Vanessa.
And she was smiling.
