Adrien seized Emily’s arm.

“Move.”

They ran through smoke-filled corridors as bullets thundered below.

Emily’s lungs burned.

Another explosion ripped through the warehouse.

Concrete dust rained from the ceiling.

“How did they find us?” she shouted.

Adrien’s face turned cold.

“The leak.”

Viktor appeared at a stairwell, bleeding heavily from the shoulder.

“North exit’s compromised.”

“Cars?”

“Gone.”

Adrien swore quietly in Italian.

More gunshots.

Closer now.

Then footsteps echoed ahead.

Three armed men appeared through smoke.

Leone’s men.

Viktor fired first.

One dropped instantly.

Another slammed into the wall.

The third kept shooting until Adrien put two bullets directly into his chest.

Emily froze.

Adrien grabbed her again.

“Keep moving.”

They burst onto the rooftop just as rain intensified again.

Wind screamed across the river.

A helicopter waited near the edge.

Emily stared.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“Get in.”

Searchlights suddenly swept across the roof.

More armed men poured through the stairwell door behind them.

And at their center walked a man in an immaculate charcoal coat.

Older than Adrien.

Silver at the temples.

Calm.

Deadly.

Salvatore Leone.

Even from across the rooftop, his presence felt poisonous.

Leone smiled faintly when he saw Emily.

“Well,” he said, voice carrying through the rain. “Mateo’s little sister.”

Emily’s blood turned to ice.

Adrien stepped slightly in front of her.

Leone sighed.

“You know, Adrien, this entire situation could’ve been avoided if you simply returned what belongs to me.”

“I don’t have it.”

“Still lying after all these years.”

Leone’s gaze shifted toward Emily.

“But perhaps she does.”

The helicopter blades began spinning faster.

Viktor fired toward Leone’s men.

Chaos erupted again.

Bullets tore across the rooftop.

Adrien shoved Emily toward the helicopter.

“Go!”

She climbed inside as gunfire exploded around them.

Viktor fell hard beside the landing gear.

Leone’s men advanced relentlessly through rain and smoke.

Then Leone raised a hand.

Everything stopped.

Even the shooting.

His eyes locked directly onto Emily.

And he smiled.

Not angry.

Not rushed.

Confident.

“Check the music box,” he called out.

Adrien’s expression changed instantly.

For the first time all night—

Real fear.

The helicopter lifted violently into the storm.

Leone grew smaller beneath them.

Still smiling.

Emily turned toward Adrien slowly.

“How does he know about the music box?”

Adrien didn’t answer immediately.

Rain lashed the windows as the city lights shrank below.

Finally he said quietly—

“Because he’s the one who told Mateo where to hide it.”

Nothing made sense anymore.

“You said Leone killed my brother.”

“He did.”

“Then why would Mateo trust him?”

Adrien’s eyes darkened.

“He didn’t.”

“Then what are you saying?”

Adrien looked out into the storm.

And for the first time since she met him—

he seemed uncertain.

“Three years ago,” he said softly, “Mateo wasn’t working for me.”

Emily’s pulse slowed painfully.

“He was working against me.”

The helicopter vanished into thunderclouds while below them the burning warehouse reflected across the black river like the gates of hell opening beneath the rain.

And somewhere in her apartment, untouched for three years, a small wooden music box waited to reveal the truth about her brother.

…If you want to know what happened next, please type “YES” and like for more.