Chapter 11 - Chelsea Refused to Be the WeaknessVincent woke to find Chelsea sitting beside his hospital bed.
For one beautiful second, relief softened his face.
Then he remembered everything.
“Salvatore?”
“Gone.”
Vincent tried to sit up.
Pain stopped him.
Chelsea pressed one hand against his shoulder.
“No.”
“I need—”
“You need organs.”
“I have people looking for him.”
“So do the police.”
“He tried to kill you.”
“He hit you with a car.”
“Details.”
Chelsea laughed despite herself.
Then tears appeared.
Vincent noticed.
“Come here.”
She leaned toward him.
He touched her cheek.
“I’m alive.”
“I know.”
“Chelsea.”
“I thought you were dead.”
His expression softened.
“So did I.”
She rested her forehead against his.
“I hate you.”
“That seems extreme.”
“You stepped in front of me.”
“I would do it again.”
“Exactly why I hate you.”
He smiled weakly.
Chelsea kissed his forehead.
Then she said, “We’re going to stop Salvatore.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You waited until I was physically unable to argue.”
“I’m learning strategy.”
His expression sharpened.
“What did you do?”
Chelsea smiled.
“Nothing yet.”
“That is not reassuring.”
She explained.
Elena had identified three properties Salvatore used.
Federal agents searched two.
Empty.
The third was an old Romano estate in Wisconsin near Lake Geneva.
Chelsea believed Salvatore would go there.
Vincent asked why.
“Because men obsessed with family history always return to places where they felt powerful.”
Vincent stared at her.
“Who taught you that?”
“Seven straight days surrounded by emotionally constipated criminals.”
He laughed and immediately regretted it because of his ribs.
“Ow.”
“See? Karma.”
Kane entered.
“Miss Dawson is correct.”
Vincent frowned.
“I’m beginning to dislike this hospital.”
Kane continued.
“We intercepted a call. Salvatore is at Lake Geneva.”
Vincent reached for the IV.
Chelsea slapped his hand.
“No.”
“He’s there.”
“And you were hit by a car.”
“I’m leaving.”
Kane said, “You are not.”
Vincent looked at her.
Kane smiled.
“I have armed federal agents. You have a hospital gown.”
Chelsea looked beneath the blanket.
Vincent grabbed it.
“Don’t.”
She laughed.
Even Marco smiled from the doorway.
But the humor disappeared when Kane continued.
“Salvatore has twelve men with him and several hostages.”
“Who?” Vincent asked.
“Elena.”
Chelsea froze.
Kane added, “And Gabriel.”
Vincent’s face changed.
“How?”
“Gabriel left the hospital early this morning.”
Marco cursed.
“He went after Elena.”
Kane nodded.
“Apparently.”
Vincent ripped the monitor leads from his chest.
“Vincent!”
“No.”
This time, nobody stopped him.
Because Gabriel was his brother.
And whatever hatred had existed between them, seven years of lies were not going to end with Vincent abandoning him.
The Romano estate sat against the dark waters of Lake Geneva.
By evening, federal tactical teams surrounded the property.
Vincent arrived against medical advice wearing a coat over bandages.
Chelsea arrived despite everyone’s advice.
“You’re both impossible,” Kane said.
Chelsea smiled.
“That’s why it works.”
The negotiator contacted Salvatore.
He demanded a vehicle and safe passage.
In exchange, Elena and Gabriel would be released.
Nobody believed him.
Then Salvatore added another condition.
“Chelsea.”
Vincent’s face turned murderous.
“No.”
Kane muted the call.
“He wants her because he believes he can trade her for your cooperation.”
Chelsea asked, “Can we use that?”
“No,” three people answered.
She rolled her eyes.
But Kane had another plan.
A microphone.
A vest.
A tactical team hidden along the south entrance.
Chelsea would appear briefly.
Draw Salvatore away from the hostages.
Vincent refused for ten minutes.
Then Chelsea took his face between her hands.
“You trusted Isabella enough to love her.”
He closed his eyes.
“Trust me enough to let me fight beside you.”
That did it.
Vincent nodded once.
Chelsea walked toward the mansion alone.
Snow had begun falling lightly over the lawn.
Salvatore stepped onto the porch with a gun.
“Beautiful.”
Chelsea stopped thirty feet away.
“You have terrible flirting skills.”
He laughed.
“Come closer.”
“Release Elena.”
“One hostage.”
“Both.”
Salvatore raised the gun.
Chelsea did not move.
Inside, tactical officers approached through the rear.
“Vincent loves you,” Salvatore said.
“Yes.”
“You say that proudly.”
“I do.”
“He’s a killer.”
“He’s trying to become something else.”
“Men like us don’t change.”
Chelsea smiled faintly.
“Maybe that’s why Isabella rejected you.”
Salvatore’s face darkened.
Good.
Angry people became careless.
He descended one step.
“She chose wrong.”
“No.”
Another step.
“She chose the man she loved.”
Salvatore lifted the gun toward Chelsea.
“That choice killed her.”
“No.”
Chelsea stared directly at him.
“Men who couldn’t accept her choice killed her.”
The words landed.
Salvatore charged.
Chelsea stepped backward.
A shot exploded.
Not from Salvatore.
Vincent.
He stood near the tree line.
His bullet struck the porch railing beside Salvatore.
“Drop it!”
Salvatore spun.
Tactical teams emerged.
He grabbed Chelsea.
Gun pressed beneath her jaw.
Vincent froze.
Everything became silent.
Salvatore dragged Chelsea backward.
“Tell them to stand down!”
Vincent raised his hands.
“Let her go.”
“Tell them!”
Vincent looked toward Kane.
Then at Chelsea.
Chelsea’s eyes moved downward.
Salvatore had exposed his knee.
Vincent understood.
He shook his head slightly.
Chelsea ignored him.
She stomped backward onto Salvatore’s foot and drove her elbow into his ribs.
The gun fired upward.
Vincent lunged.
Agents rushed.
Salvatore threw Chelsea aside.
She hit the ground.
He raised his gun at Vincent.
Gabriel suddenly crashed through the mansion doorway.
Still bound at one wrist.
He slammed into Salvatore.
Both fell down the steps.
Vincent reached them.
Salvatore grabbed his weapon.
Gabriel grabbed his arm.
Chelsea screamed, “Vincent!”
Salvatore fired.
Silence.
Everyone froze.
Gabriel slowly looked down.
No blood.
Salvatore gasped.
The bullet had struck his own abdomen during the struggle.
Agents pulled him away.
Paramedics rushed forward.
Salvatore survived.
Barely.
Which meant he would stand trial.
Elena emerged from the mansion.
Bruised but alive.
She looked at Chelsea.
“You really are insane.”
Chelsea laughed shakily.
“People keep telling me that.”
Gabriel approached Vincent.
For several seconds, the brothers looked at each other.
Seven years of hatred stood between them.
Then Gabriel said, “I’m sorry.”
Vincent’s eyes filled.
“So am I.”
Gabriel looked away.
Vincent stepped forward.
And hugged him.
Gabriel froze.
Then embraced his brother.
Chelsea watched from several feet away.
Maybe happy endings did not erase what happened.
Maybe they simply meant the pain no longer controlled the future.
Vincent turned toward her.
He walked across the snow.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He touched her face.
“You disobeyed literally every instruction.”
“Yes.”
“You attacked an armed man.”
“Technically.”
“You are never doing that again.”
“Probably not.”
Vincent stared at her.
Chelsea smiled.
“Are you going to kiss me or lecture me?”
He kissed her.
Behind them, Marco muttered, “Here we go again.”
Rosa slapped his arm.
“Let them have this.”
The bounty vanished within hours of Salvatore’s arrest.
Dominic agreed to cooperate.
Adrian pleaded guilty.
The remaining Romano captains surrendered or disappeared.
And for the first time since Chelsea kissed Vincent Moretti inside a restaurant, nobody was actively trying to kill her.
But one final question remained.
May you like
What happened when the danger ended?
Because sometimes surviving together was easier than learning how to live together.
