Chapter 9 - THE BROTHER'S CHAIN
Hannah saw the look on my face.
The warmth vanished from the room instantly.
"What is it?" she asked, her voice tightening.
I didn't want to show her the screen, but she had earned the right to every truth.
I handed her the phone.
Hannah stared at the image of her nineteen-year-old brother, Leo.
His face was bruised, a bloody cloth gagging his mouth, tied to an iron pillar beneath yellow halogen lights.
A sharp, ragged gasp tore from her throat.
"Leo..." she breathed, her hands trembling so violently the phone nearly fell.
"They swore they left him alone in Boston! Moretti swore he wouldn't touch him!"
I stood up, taking the phone back and locking the screen.
"Moretti doesn't make promises, Hannah. He makes traps."
"I have to go," she said frantically, trying to stand up from the sofa.
Her injured leg gave out immediately.
I caught her by the waist, steadying her against my chest.
"You can barely walk, Hannah," I said firmly, holding her gaze.
"He's my brother, Damian!" she cried, pounding her fists against my chest in pure desperation.
"He’s all the family I have left! I can't let him die because of me!"
"You're not going anywhere," I said, my voice dropping into that deep, immovable tone that commanded armies of men.
"Because I am going."
Hannah stopped pounding.
She looked up at me through tears of agony.
"Why would you risk your life for my brother?"
I gently cupped the side of her face with my calloused hand.
My thumb wiped away the salt on her cheek.
"Because you protected my daughters when the house fell."
"Because you taught Claire to walk."
"In my world, Hannah, debts of honor are paid with blood."
"Your family is my family now."
Her breath hitched.
She leaned into my palm for a single, fleeting second, her eyes wide with vulnerability.
"Moretti has over thirty men at the Brooklyn terminal," she whispered.
"It’s an ambush, Damian. He wants you to come alone."
I smiled.
It was the cold, terrifying smile of the man who ruled New York’s shadows.
"Moretti thinks he’s hunting a businessman."
"He forgot who taught this city how to bleed."
I turned to Dominic, who was waiting by the door.
"Assemble the heavy strike team."
"Bring the breaching charges and the thermal gear."
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"Tonight, the Moretti family ceases to exist."
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