Chapter 7: The Diary of Blood
Chapter 7: The Diary of Blood
The masked gunman pulled the trigger.
The deafening crack of the rifle echoed through the underground chamber.
Aria screamed.
But the old priest reacted first.
He shoved her behind one of the ancient stone pillars just as the bullet shattered the wooden chest where Elizabeth Sterling's diary had rested moments earlier.
Splinters exploded through the air.
"Run!" the priest shouted.
"I won't leave you!"
"You must!"
Another burst of gunfire ripped through the room.
The priest stumbled backward as a bullet tore through his upper arm.
Blood soaked the sleeve of his black robe.
He gritted his teeth but remained standing.
"The diary, Aria!"
"Protect the diary!"
At that exact moment...
Dante reached the bottom of the hidden staircase.
The underground chamber came into view.
His eyes immediately found Aria.
Alive.
Then he saw the masked assassin.
Without hesitation, Dante fired.
Three precise shots.
The gunman dove behind a stone column.
Bullets ricocheted through the chamber.
"Dante!" Aria cried.
"Stay down!"
His command was calm despite the chaos.
Luca and four Rossi soldiers poured into the tunnel behind him, taking defensive positions.
The chamber erupted into a firefight.
The assassin wasn't alone.
Two more masked men emerged from another passage hidden behind the shelves.
"Left side!" Luca shouted.
Automatic gunfire filled the underground crypt.
Ancient stone walls crumbled under the impact.
Dust filled the air.
One Rossi guard fell.
Another dragged him behind cover while returning fire.
"They knew about the tunnels," Luca growled.
"This wasn't a random attack."
Dante's expression darkened.
"Someone showed them the way."
Aria crouched beside the wounded priest.
Blood continued flowing from his shoulder.
She pressed both hands against the wound.
"I'm so sorry..."
The old man smiled weakly.
"You sound just like your mother."
Aria looked up.
"You really knew her?"
"I knew Elizabeth better than almost anyone."
He coughed.
"She wasn't weak."
"She wasn't broken."
"She was brave."
A tear slid down Aria's cheek.
"My father said she abandoned me."
The priest slowly shook his head.
"No."
"She died trying to save you."
The world seemed to stop.
"What?"
Before he could explain...
Another explosion shook the chamber.
Part of the ceiling collapsed between them.
Stone blocks crashed onto the floor, separating Aria from Dante.
"Dante!"
"I'm here!" his voice echoed through the dust.
"Stay where you are!"
On the opposite side of the fallen debris...
Dante searched desperately for another path around the collapse.
The assassin used the confusion to retreat deeper into the tunnels.
Luca aimed his rifle.
"We're losing them."
Dante didn't even look back.
"Forget them."
"My wife comes first."
Those four words made every Rossi soldier immediately change direction.
No one questioned the order.
Hidden behind the collapsed wall...
The priest reached inside his robe.
He pulled out a small silver key attached to a faded blue ribbon.
He placed it into Aria's trembling hand.
"This opens...the second box."
"What box?"
"The safe deposit box."
"Union Trust Bank."
"Your mother rented it twenty years ago."
Aria stared at the key.
"What's inside?"
"The truth."
His breathing grew weaker.
"The diary only tells half the story."
"What story?"
He looked directly into her eyes.
"The story of...who you really are."
Suddenly...
The masked assassin appeared from the smoke only a few feet away.
His rifle was gone.
A combat knife gleamed in his hand.
He lunged toward Aria.
Everything happened in seconds.
The priest stepped between them.
The knife plunged into his chest.
"No!"
Aria screamed.
The old priest collapsed into her arms.
The assassin reached for the diary.
Before he could grab it—
A gunshot echoed through the chamber.
The assassin froze.
A crimson stain spread across his back.
He slowly turned.
Dante stood twenty feet away, pistol still raised.
His voice was ice.
"Touch my wife again."
"I dare you."
The assassin smiled beneath the skull mask.
Then...
To everyone's shock...
He pulled a smoke grenade from his pocket.
The chamber instantly filled with thick gray smoke.
Visibility disappeared.
By the time the air cleared...
The assassin was gone.
Silence settled over the underground chamber.
Only the sound of dripping water remained.
Dante hurried toward Aria.
He dropped to one knee beside her.
"Are you hurt?"
She couldn't answer.
She was holding the priest as blood stained the front of her dress.
The old man smiled one final time.
"Mr. Rossi..."
Dante leaned closer.
"I'm here."
"Protect her..."
"I will."
"Promise me."
"I swear it."
The priest nodded faintly.
Then he looked at Aria.
"Your mother...never stopped loving you."
His eyes slowly closed.
His hand slipped from hers.
The chamber fell silent.
Hours later...
The Rossi estate was surrounded by police, forensic investigators, and private security.
The priest's body had been taken away with full honors.
The underground chamber was sealed.
Dante stood in his office, staring at the silver key lying on his desk.
Luca entered carrying another report.
"The men who attacked us..."
Dante looked up.
"What about them?"
"They left behind one body."
"One of our snipers hit him during the escape."
"Did you identify him?"
Luca placed a fingerprint report on the desk.
Dante read the name.
His expression changed instantly.
"No..."
"It can't be."
Luca spoke quietly.
"It is."
The dead attacker wasn't a member of the Morelli Family.
He wasn't a mercenary.
He wasn't a hired killer.
According to every official record...
He had died fifteen years ago.
His name was...
Michael Carter.
Evelyn Carter's only son.
The little boy who had disappeared the same week Aria's beloved nanny vanished without a trace.
Dante slowly looked toward the diary resting beside the key.
Whatever had happened twenty years earlier...
It was bigger than a political conspiracy.
It was bigger than the Mafia.
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And someone had been willing to kill for it ever since.
End of Chapter 7
