Chapter 37
B runo drops to the ground, his face contorting into a terrified mask. Blood blooms across his pristine white shirt like spilled wine. The cathedral erupts into chaos around me, but I remain frozen at the altar, my bouquet hanging limply from my fingers.
Screams bounce off the vaulted ceiling. The elegant wedding guests transform into a panicked mob, scrambling toward the exits, trampling flower arrangements and shoving each other aside. Women in designer heels stumble down the aisle. Men vault over pews.
I can't move. Can't breathe. Can't process what's happening.
Bruno writhes on the floor, clutching his chest. Riccardo, rushes forward, shouting. Security guards materialize from every corner, weapons drawn, scanning for threats. The priest cowers behind the altar.
A movement catches my eye. Someone's pushing through the panicked crowd, moving against the tide of fleeing guests.
Daniel.
His face is set in grim determination, gun drawn at his side. Our eyes lock across the chaos, and for a moment, everything else fades away.
He's here.
"There he is!" Riccardo's voice cuts through the pandemonium. "That's the shooter!"
Riccardo stands over Bruno's body, his face twisted with rage. He raises his gun, aiming directly at Daniel.
"No!" I try to scream, but it comes out as a whisper. "It wasn't him!"
Daniel keeps moving forward, his eyes never leaving mine. "Russians," he shouts over the chaos. "There are Russians in the building. I took one out in the choir loft. There could be more?—"
Riccardo's finger tightens on the trigger. Everything slows down.
My body moves before my mind can catch up. I lunge forward, throwing myself between Daniel and Riccardo's gun.
The sound is deafening. A crack that echoes through the cathedral.
I'm floating. Or falling. I can't tell which.
"LU!" Zoe's scream pierces through everything else, raw and desperate.
Strong arms catch me before I hit the ground. Daniel. His face hovers above mine, his blue eyes wide with horror. His mouth is moving, forming words I can't hear. The world has gone strangely quiet, like I'm underwater.
I smile up at him. He came back for me. That's all that matters.
Daniel's holding me against his chest. He looks so worried. I want to tell him it's okay, but my lips won't cooperate. His hand presses against me somewhere, his face growing more panicked by the second.
Where am I hurt? I should be in pain, shouldn't I? But I feel nothing. Just a strange weightlessness, like I'm drifting away on a gentle current.
Daniel's face is the only clear thing in my vision now. Everything else blurs around the edges. He's shouting something. Crying maybe? I've never seen him cry before. I want to reach up and touch his face, tell him not to worry, but my arms feel so heavy.
His tears fall on my face, warm against my cooling skin.
People are rushing around us, but they seem so far away now. Just shadows moving in the periphery. Only Daniel is real. Only Daniel matters.
I smile again, trying to tell him with my eyes what my voice can't say. I'm not afraid. Not with him holding me.
I catch Lu as she falls, her body weightless in my arms. The white silk of her wedding dress blooms with crimson as I lower her to the floor.
"Lu! Stay with me!" My voice sounds strange, distant, like it belongs to someone else. I scan her body for the entry wound, but there's so much blood spreading across the white fabric. "Where are you hit? Lu, talk to me!"
Something wet runs down my cheeks. I blink, confused. Tears? What the fuck? I haven't cried since I was a little boy watching my mother's casket being lowered into the ground. Not in Afghanistan when I lost half my unit. Not during any mission or firefight.
"Hayes!" Enzo is suddenly beside me, his voice cutting through my panic. "She's hit in the arm! The arm!"
I blink, trying to focus on what he's telling me. My hands move frantically over her body until I find it. A through-and-through wound on her upper left arm. The bullet missed anything vital. Relief crashes through me.
"She'll live," I whisper, more to myself than anyone else. "She'll live."
Lu's eyes flutter open, finding mine. "Daniel," she whispers, her voice weak but present.
"I'm here. You're going to be okay." I press my hand against the wound, stemming the blood flow. "It's just your arm. You're going to be fine."
A shadow falls over us. Riccardo Sartori stands there, his gun still drawn, his face contorted with rage.
In one fluid motion, I ease Lu into Enzo's arms and rise to my feet, drawing my weapon and aiming it at Riccardo's chest.
But I'm too slow.
Another shot cracks through the cathedral.
Riccardo's expression freezes, his eyes widening in surprise. A small, perfect hole appears in the center of his forehead. For a suspended moment, he remains standing, and then collapses backward onto the altar steps.
Ava's scream pierces the air, high and agonized. She rushes to her husband's body.
"Riccardo! No, no, no!" Her hands hover over him, afraid to touch, to confirm what her eyes are telling her.
I lower my weapon, scanning the cathedral for the shooter who took out Riccardo.
"Damiano!" I shout. "We've got more Russians!"
Damiano's head snaps up from where he's kneeling beside Lu. His eyes lock with mine, understanding instantly. He signals to Noah, who materializes from the chaos like a shadow.
"Secure Lu," I tell Enzo, already moving. "Keep pressure on that wound."
The three of us fan out, weapons drawn. Noah takes the left side of the cathedral, Damiano the right. I head straight for the choir loft, taking the stairs two at a time. The first Russian is still there, sprawled where I left him, but my instincts tell me he wasn't working alone.
A flash of movement catches my eye – someone ducking behind a pillar near the pipe organ. I pivot, raising my weapon in one fluid motion.
"Hayes, on your six!" Noah's voice crackles through my earpiece.
I drop to one knee as a bullet whizzes past where my head had been. The Russian emerges from behind the pillar, already adjusting his aim for a second shot.
I don't give him the chance. Two shots, center mass. He crumples to the ground, his rifle clattering against the wooden floor.
I take the stairs back down. The cathedral has mostly emptied, save for the wedding party and security teams. Blue and red lights flash through the stained glass windows as police and ambulances arrive outside.
The Sartori family has gathered around Bruno and Riccardo. Ava kneels beside her husband's body. Her sobs echo through the vaulted ceiling. Bruno is probably still alive, paramedics working on him.
I push past them to where Lu lies on the floor, Enzo still applying pressure to her wound. Her face is pale, but her eyes are open, tracking my movement.
"Daniel," she whispers as I kneel beside her.
Damiano appears on my shoulder. "We need to get her to our clinic. Now."
"The police—" I begin.
"I'll handle them," he cuts me off. "Take her. Our doctors are already waiting."
I nod, sliding my arms under Lu's body. "I've got her."
Damiano grabs my arm before I can lift her. His fingers dig into my bicep as he pulls me close, his forehead nearly touching mine. His eyes burn with barely contained fury.
"You better not disappoint me again, Hayes. Not until she's well." His voice is low, meant only for me. "After that, we'll discuss your betrayal."
I meet his gaze without flinching. "I'll keep her safe."
He releases me with a slight shove. I gather Lu into my arms, cradling her against my chest. She feels impossibly light, her wedding dress trailing behind us like a bloodstained flag of surrender.
"Daniel," she murmurs against my neck as I carry her down the aisle. "You came back."
"Always," I tell her, pushing through the cathedral doors into the chaos outside. "I'll always come back for you."
Police cars and ambulances crowd the street. I bypass them all, heading straight for the armored Feretti SUV waiting at the curb. Noah has already opened the back door.
"Clinic," I tell the driver as I slide into the backseat with Lu still in my arms. "And step on it."
Pain explodes through my arm like wildfire, consuming everything in its path. A sob tears from my throat, raw and primal.
"It hurts," I gasp, clutching at Daniel's shirt with my good hand. "God, it hurts so much."
The SUV lurches forward, sending a fresh wave of agony through my arm. I cry out, tears streaming down my face.
"Lu, look at me," Daniel commands, his voice cutting through the haze of pain. His hands cradle my face, forcing my eyes to meet his. "Keep your eyes on me."
I try to focus on his face, but the pain keeps pulling me under. Another moan escapes me as the vehicle takes a sharp turn.
"Remember that time at the beach house?" Daniel says suddenly, his thumb stroking my cheek. "When you decided you wanted to learn how to surf?"
I blink in confusion, not understanding why he's bringing this up now.
"What?" I whimper.
"The beach house, three years ago. You were wearing that ridiculous sun hat that kept blowing off in the wind." His eyes never leave mine, intense and focused. "You insisted on trying to surf even though the waves were too rough that day."
Despite the searing pain, I find myself latching onto his words, the random memory providing an unexpected anchor.
"I... I fell," I manage between shallow breaths.
"You didn't just fall. You wiped out spectacularly." A ghost of a smile touches his lips. "Matteo and I were supposed to be watching you, but we couldn't stop laughing. You came up from the water so angry, with seaweed in your hair."
Another sob escapes me, but it's mingled with the faintest hint of a laugh.
"He called me a spoiled princess," I gasp, the memory becoming clearer.
"And you threw a handful of wet sand at his face," Daniel continues, his thumb still gently stroking my cheek. "Then you grabbed the board and marched right back into the water."
The pain is still there, but Daniel's voice gives me something else to focus on. His eyes hold mine, refusing to let me drift away.
"You fell seven more times," he says, his voice low and steady. "But you wouldn't quit. By the end of the day, you managed to stand up on that board for all of five seconds."
"Ten," I correct him weakly. "It was ten seconds."
"Maybe in your memory," he says, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. "In mine, it was five, tops."
I moan as the SUV hits a pothole, fresh pain shooting through my arm. Daniel's hand tightens on mine.
"Stay with me, Lu. Keep looking at me." His voice is commanding but gentle.
I try to smile, but it turns into a grimace as another wave of pain washes over me. Tears leak from the corners of my eyes.
"I never knew you remembered that day," I manage to say.
Daniel's eyes soften, his thumb catching a tear on my cheek.
"I remember everything about you, Lu. Every single day."
I squeeze Daniel's hand, the pain momentarily receding as guilt floods through me. "I'm sorry," I whisper, my voice breaking. "I'm so sorry for leaving you."
Daniel's jaw tightens, but he doesn't look away from my face. His fingers continue their gentle path along my cheek, wiping away tears I didn't realize were falling.
"I couldn't risk you being killed," I continue, each word an effort through the throbbing pain. "Damiano promised he wouldn't hurt you if I came back willingly."
"Lu—"
"I told him I manipulated you into helping me," I confess, needing him to understand. "I said it was all my fault so he wouldn't blame you."
The SUV takes another turn, and I bite back a scream as my arm shifts. Daniel's hand steadies me, his touch impossibly gentle compared to the storm in his eyes.
When the wave of agony subsides enough for me to speak again, I look up at him. "How did you know? About the wedding, the exact hour?"
Daniel shakes his head, his thumb brushing across my lower lip. "Those are things we can discuss later. Right now, you need to focus on staying awake."
"But—"
"No." His voice is firm, brooking no argument. "Later."
I want to press him, but the pain is making it hard to think clearly. Instead, I focus on his face, on the lines of worry etched between his brows, on the stubble darkening his jaw.
"I thought I'd never see you again," I whisper.
Something shifts in Daniel's expression, his carefully controlled mask cracking. He leans closer, his forehead touching mine.
"Listen to me," he says, his voice rough. "I would have found you. No matter what. No matter how long it took."
His hand slides to the back of my neck, his touch firm but careful.
"I've spent my whole life following orders, doing my duty," he continues, each word deliberate and weighted. "But you made me choose something else. Someone else."
I stare up at him, transfixed despite the pain radiating through my arm.
"I'm not good with words, Lu. I'm not the kind of man who knows how to say pretty things." His eyes bore into mine, intense and unwavering. "But I need you to understand this: I love you. I fucking love you more than anything in this world."
His declaration is blunt, almost angry in its intensity. There's nothing flowery or romantic about it. Just raw, unfiltered truth.
And somehow, it's perfect.
A small, pained laugh escapes me. "That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me."
Daniel's brow furrows. "You're delirious from the pain."
"No." I shake my head, wincing as the movement jostles my injured arm. "It's sweet because it's real. Because it's you."
His expression softens, and for a moment, I forget about the bullet wound, the wedding, the chaos we've left behind. There's just Daniel, his eyes locked on mine, his hand warm against my skin.
"I love you too," I whisper. "That's why I left. I couldn't let them hurt you."
Daniel opens his mouth to respond, but another jolt of the SUV sends fresh agony through my arm. I cry out, the world momentarily going white with pain.
"Almost there," Daniel says, his voice tight with concern. "Just hold on, Lu. Stay with me."