Chapter 10 - Five Million Dollars for the Woman He LovedThe new bounty changed everything.
A dead hostage could punish Vincent.
A living hostage could control him.
Agent Kane confirmed the encrypted offer had reached criminal groups in three states.
Chelsea stared at the amount.
“Five million?”
Vincent looked furious.
“At least I’ve appreciated in value.”
“Chelsea.”
“What? I cope through inappropriate humor.”
Kane closed her laptop.
“We can place Miss Dawson in witness protection.”
“No,” Vincent said.
Chelsea turned.
“You don’t decide.”
He looked at her.
She continued.
“But I also say no.”
Vincent exhaled.
Kane rubbed her forehead.
“You two are exhausting.”
Chelsea smiled.
“We hear that.”
The problem was simple.
Chelsea could disappear.
New name.
New city.
New life.
But Dominic and Adrian knew enough about Vincent to predict he would search forever.
Anyone near Chelsea—friends, coworkers, even distant relatives—could become targets.
So they needed to destroy the bounty at its source.
Kane traced the cryptocurrency wallet funding the offer.
The account was connected to the Romano organization.
Elena.
Vincent called her.
She answered immediately.
“I wondered when you’d figure it out.”
“You put five million on Chelsea?”
“No.”
“Your organization did.”
“My organization is fractured.”
“Explain.”
“My father died two years ago. Half our captains answer to me. The other half answer to my cousin Salvatore.”
Vincent’s expression hardened.
Chelsea remembered the name.
Salvatore Romano was known for violence even by the standards of their world.
Elena continued.
“Salvatore believes your cooperation with federal agents threatens everyone.”
“So he wants leverage.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find him.”
“I’m trying.”
Chelsea leaned toward the phone.
“Elena.”
A pause.
“Chelsea?”
“If Salvatore wants me alive, we can use that.”
Vincent turned.
“No.”
Chelsea ignored him.
Elena said slowly, “I was thinking the same thing.”
“No,” Vincent repeated.
Chelsea smiled sweetly.
“Very commanding.”
“You are not bait.”
“Technically I already am.”
“Chelsea.”
She looked at him.
“If we hide forever, he controls us.”
“I can live with that.”
“I can’t.”
Vincent stared.
“I watched one woman I loved die because she chose to fight my world.”
Chelsea’s expression softened.
“I’m not Isabella.”
“I know.”
“Then stop loving me like I am.”
The words struck him.
Chelsea moved closer.
“You don’t protect me by turning my life into a locked room.”
Vincent looked away.
She touched his face.
“Trust me.”
He closed his eyes.
“That’s harder than taking a bullet.”
“I know.”
The plan was reckless.
Which was why everyone believed it might work.
Elena spread information that Chelsea would leave Chicago through a private train terminal.
The route was deliberately leaked through a compromised contact.
Federal agents positioned themselves around the station.
Chelsea wore a concealed tracking device.
Vincent insisted on being nearby.
Kane threatened to arrest him if he interfered.
He replied that her jail cells would need excellent security.
At 8:40 p.m., Chelsea walked alone across the nearly empty platform.
Her heart hammered.
An SUV approached outside.
Three men emerged.
Chelsea kept walking.
One approached.
“Miss Dawson?”
She stopped.
“Depends.”
He grabbed her arm.
Agents moved.
Then gunfire erupted from the opposite roof.
Everyone scattered.
Chelsea fell behind a concrete pillar.
The kidnapping team fled.
Vincent rushed toward her despite Kane shouting.
“Stay down!”
A bullet struck the pillar.
Vincent covered Chelsea.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
“Track the shooter!” Kane yelled.
Marco’s voice came through Vincent’s earpiece.
“Shooter moving east.”
Chelsea looked toward an upper walkway.
Someone stood there.
A man in a gray coat.
Salvatore Romano.
He smiled at them.
Then disappeared.
They chased.
Salvatore reached a parking structure.
Elena appeared at the opposite entrance with two armed guards.
Her cousin stopped.
“Elena.”
“You’re embarrassing the family.”
He laughed.
“You invited Moretti to destroy us.”
“He destroyed himself.”
Salvatore raised his gun.
Elena did the same.
Vincent approached with Chelsea behind cover.
“Put it down, Sal.”
Salvatore smiled.
“You always got everything.”
Vincent frowned.
“Power. Isabella. Respect.”
Chelsea’s stomach tightened.
Another man obsessed with Isabella?
Then Salvatore said something unexpected.
“She was supposed to marry me.”
Vincent stared.
“What?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Salvatore, stop.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“Before Isabella met you, our fathers planned it.”
Vincent looked toward Elena.
She nodded.
“It never happened.”
Salvatore’s eyes filled with old hatred.
“She humiliated us.”
Chelsea suddenly understood.
“You helped Dominic.”
Salvatore looked at her.
“Smart girl.”
Vincent went still.
“You knew about the bomb.”
“I knew someone would stop the wedding.”
“They were already married,” Chelsea said.
Salvatore smiled.
“Not that wedding.”
He meant something else.
Isabella and Vincent had planned a vow renewal shortly before her death.
Vincent’s face changed.
Salvatore continued.
“My father wanted Vincent weak. Dominic wanted Isabella silent. Adrian wanted her punished.”
Chelsea whispered, “Everyone wanted something from her.”
Salvatore pointed the gun toward Chelsea.
“And history repeats.”
Vincent stepped in front.
“Shoot me.”
Chelsea whispered, “Vincent.”
He did not move.
Salvatore smiled.
“That’s exactly why she’s worth five million.”
Sirens approached.
Salvatore looked around.
Then pressed a button.
An explosion rocked the lower garage.
Smoke filled the structure.
Chelsea lost sight of everyone.
Vincent grabbed her hand.
They ran toward the exit.
A car burst through the smoke.
Salvatore behind the wheel.
He accelerated straight toward them.
Vincent shoved Chelsea aside.
The vehicle struck him.
Chelsea screamed.
Vincent rolled across the pavement.
Salvatore escaped through the damaged gate.
Chelsea crawled to Vincent.
Blood ran from his forehead.
His eyes remained closed.
“Vincent!”
Nothing.
“Vincent!”
Kane rushed over.
Paramedics were called.
Chelsea held his hand.
For the first time, she understood the particular horror Vincent had lived with for seven years.
Loving someone meant giving fate somewhere to hurt you.
At the hospital, doctors rushed Vincent into surgery for internal bleeding.
Chelsea sat alone outside.
Rosa held her hand.
Marco paced.
Gabriel arrived, arm still in a sling.
Three hours passed.
A surgeon finally emerged.
Chelsea stood.
“He’s stable.”
Her knees nearly collapsed.
Rosa caught her.
The surgeon continued.
“He has several fractures and significant blood loss, but the operation went well.”
Chelsea cried into Rosa’s shoulder.
Vincent lived.
But Salvatore escaped.
And sometime during the night, he sent Chelsea one message.
A photograph of Vincent lying unconscious in the street.
NEXT TIME I WON’T MISS.
Chelsea stared at it.
Then something inside her changed.
Fear had controlled enough of her life.
It would not control what came next.
She looked at Marco.
“Find Elena.”
“Why?”
May you like
Chelsea’s voice became steady.
“Because we’re ending this.”
