Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Chloe
Iwait exactly thirty minutes after they leave before I make my move. Basili had made me promise to stay in the house. Ordered me, actually, with those intense eyes in that commanding voice that usually makes my knees weak.
But I can’t sit by and do nothing. Not while Emmanuel is in danger. And Basili. I’m done sitting on the sidelines while the people I love risk their lives.
The kitchen is desolate when I sneak through, heading for the garage. Slipping through the door with practiced quiet, I grab keys from the rack, choosing a nondescript black sedan instead of one of the flashier vehicles. Less flashy would mean less attention.
The drive to my father’s compound takes twenty minutes. I spend the entirety of those twenty minutes second-guessing my choices, wondering if I’m making a huge mistake, knowing Basili will be furious.
If Shuren leaves him alive long enough to be furious.
Don’t think like that. I chastise myself. Basili’s a strong fighter; I have to believe he’ll be fine.
I pull up to the compound, and my heart sinks. The guard booth is empty. The gate was left wide open. It’s already begun.
I drive through, following the circular driveway toward the main house, spotting bodies on the ground, Tao guards. I hope. There’s blood on the pristine walkway leading to the front door.
I park and get out, my legs weak. Gunfire sounds from inside the house. Shouting. The sound of breaking glass. I move toward the front door, stepping over debris. It’s been blown off its hinges and straight into chaos.
There are four men in the foyer, two of Basili’s men and two Tao soldiers on the second landing. Neither side notices me as I slip past them, into a side hallway. Stepping over more crumpled bodies. More blood.
Ahead of me, I see two guards posted outside a side door, weapons drawn, shouting into radios. And between them, on his knees with a gun to his head, is Omero.
“Don’t fucking move,” one of the guards snarls at him. “We’ve got orders to execute any prisoners —”
“Wait!” The word bursts from me without a thought.
Both guards spin toward me, weapons raised.
“Who the hell —”
“I’d put those down if I were you; my father won’t appreciate you killing his long-lost daughter,” I say, forcing strength into my voice, channeling every ounce of authority I can muster.
“I am Chloe Tao. Delan Tao’s youngest daughter.
Lower your weapons. Now. The man you’re threatening is my bodyguard. ”
They exchange glances, lowering their weapons hesitantly. It works.
“Miss Tao, we didn’t know you were —”
“Clearly.” I bite out, signaling for Omero to stand. “Now step aside, and let my man go.”
He’s staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. And maybe I have. The guards look at each other again, then move away from Omero.
“Now go help hold the perimeter. My father will want this house secured immediately.”
They actually listen, running past me toward the chaos I’d already passed through. The second they’re gone, Omero grabs my arm. “What the hell are you doing here? Boss is going to kill me —”
“Where is he? Where’s Basili?”
“The study —” he says, pointing further up the hall.
“Go find Emmanuel. Look upstairs; the guest bedrooms are all down the south hall. Try there first,” I order him, I’m already moving towards the study.
I run. The study door is open, and I hear voices within. Delan’s voice, Shuren's, and Basili’s. I burst through the door and freeze when I see the scene that’s unfolding within.
Basili is on the ground, on his back, bloodied and beaten. Shuren stands over him, a gun pressed to his temple. Delan is behind his desk, another gun trained on Raffaello, who’s pinned in the corner.
Basili sees me. Smiles for a split second in delirium, then the smile fades, replaced by pure horror. “No. You can’t be here. Chloe, get the fuck out of here!”
But I can’t move. Can’t breathe. Because Delan has his eyes locked on me, looking at me like I’m six years old again, small and helpless.
“Well, well.” His voice is exactly as I remember, cold and cruel. “The prodigal daughter returns.”
He crosses the room in three strides, and before I can raise a finger to defend myself, his hand connects with my face. The slap echoes through the study. Pain explodes across my cheek. And just like that, I’m back. Back in that house under his control. Worthless, frightened, and helpless.
“Look at you,” Delan sneers. “Still pathetic. Still weak. You’ve been an embarrassment from the moment you were born. A mistake I should have corrected years ago.”
“Father —” My voice comes out broken.
“Don’t. Don’t call me that.” He grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. “You poisoned your sister against me. Made her soft. Convinced her to betray her family. For what? For you? You’re nothing. No one.”
“I didn’t —”
“You did. You corrupt everything you touch.” He strikes me again, and I feel my lip burst open this time. “I should have killed you when I had the chance. Just like I did your mother.”
My world stops. “What?”
“Oh, please. You didn’t really believe she died of cancer, did you?” He laughs. “No, dear Chloe. I killed her. Poisoned her slowly over months, made her suffer. All because she threatened to take you and leave. Because she thought she could defy me.”
He murdered her. Something inside me breaks as I absorb the truth. Or maybe it’s that something finally snaps into place. I drive my foot into his knee with everything I have. He goes down with a howl of pain.
“You bitch —”
Shuren’s head snaps toward us. Toward me. The gun shifts from Basili’s forehead, and he moves faster than I can track, a long, sharp piece of wood in his hand. He drives it into the side of Shuren’s neck through the artery.
Blood goes everywhere as my brother collapses, gasping, dying.
Delan, on the other hand, is getting back to his feet, lunging toward me. His fist connects with my stomach, and I double over. Then Basili is there, tackling him to the ground, fist slamming into his face with a sickening crunch before fixing the gun on him and pulling the trigger.
Just like that, both my brother and my father are gone. The two men who made my childhood a living nightmare are dead. My only regret is that I wasn’t the one to pull the trigger.
“Chloe.” Basili moves to me, wrapping his arms around me, Raffaello hovering close behind. “How did you get here? Why are you here?”
“I couldn’t stand by and do nothing, Basili,” I murmured against his shoulder. “Not this time.”
He shifts to look down at my father’s body. “It’s over, tesoro. He can’t hurt you anymore. But we need to get Emmanuel and get out of here.”
“Omero went to get him,” I tell him, and he pulls back enough to look at me.
“Good. Let’s go.” He takes my hand and leads the way out.
We run back through the chaos; Basili and Raffaello keep me sandwiched between them through the hallways, over bodies, past the destruction that’s been wrought. Out the front door, down the steps, toward the cars.
Omero is there waiting in Basili’s sports car, engine running. Emmanuel in the back seat, and when he sees us, his face lights up.
“Papa! Chloe!” I hear him yell, and I’m both touched and awed that he chooses this exact moment to speak again.
We pile into the car— me in the back with Emmanuel and Raffaello, Basili in the front while Omero drives.
“Go!” Basili orders. But Omero already has his foot to the floor, the tires squealing beneath us.
We tear through the compound gates onto the street, putting distance between us and the massacre we’re leaving in our wake.
Emmanuel throws his arms around me, sobbing.
I hold him tight, pressing kisses to his hair, whispering that he’s safe, that we’ve got him, that no one is ever going to take him away from us ever again.
In the front seat, Basili is on his phone, ordering the others to retreat. His face is battered, bruised, and bloody. His right eye is nearly swollen shut already, but he’s alive. We all are.