Chapter 15 - Before Sunrise
Federal lights flooded the river.
Rachel’s agents stormed the yacht from both sides.
Luca fired blindly into the darkness.
Matteo tackled Aldo before he could pull Nico toward the railing.
The baby slipped from Aldo’s arm.
Liana caught him.
She dropped to the deck and shielded Nico with her body.
Elena ran toward them.
Luca stepped from behind the cabin and aimed at her.
Dante struck his arm as he fired.
The bullet tore through the yacht’s canopy.
Luca turned on Dante.
The two men crashed against the railing.
Dante’s injured shoulder gave way.
Luca raised his weapon.
Elena kicked it from his hand.
Rachel’s agents surrounded him.
“On the deck.”
Luca laughed.
“You think prison frightens me?”
“No,” Rachel said.
“But the truth does.”
She displayed the live federal recording device attached to her vest.
“Everything said on this yacht has already been transmitted.”
Across the deck, Aldo struggled beneath Matteo.
“Kill me,” Aldo whispered.
“If you let me live, I will destroy what remains of your family.”
Matteo tightened his grip.
For years, violence had been the Varric answer to betrayal.
Aldo expected it.
Perhaps he wanted it.
A dead man could take secrets into the grave and leave Matteo looking like the criminal the world already believed him to be.
Nico cried from Liana’s arms.
Matteo looked toward his son.
Then he released Aldo and stepped back.
“No.”
Aldo stared up at him.
“You don’t deserve a quick ending.”
Rachel placed him in handcuffs.
“You’re under arrest for kidnapping, trafficking, conspiracy, attempted murder and enough additional charges to ensure you never see another sunrise as a free man.”
The horizon began to brighten.
Elena took Nico from Liana.
The baby stared at his mother as if he was afraid she might vanish again.
She pressed his hand against her cheek.
“I’m not leaving.”
Nico rested his head against her shoulder.
For the first time since Liana had entered the Varric mansion, the silence around him did not feel strange.
It felt safe.
Matteo stood beside Elena and wrapped one arm around both of them.
Liana watched the family reunite as dawn spread across the river.
Then a medic approached carrying Samuel.
Liana took her son.
Two mothers stood beneath the fading harbor lights.
May you like
Both had been declared broken.
Both had found their children alive.
