As we continued down the stone tunnel, it felt like I was in a horror movie.
The thugs’ flashlight beams barely lit our way…
The Turk’s gun pressed into the back of my head…
And every step brought me closer to betraying the man I loved.
His death – and his brothers’ deaths – would be all my fault.
We finally reached the servants’ passageway.
From there, it was just 20 paces to the secret door near the chapel.
Once we were in the hallway, the thugs formed a protective circle with me and the Turk at the center. Their footsteps tapped lightly on the tiled floors as they moved through the dark house.
Then we reached the grand staircase in the foyer.
“Go,” the Turk whispered.
Six men went up the stairs, pistols at the ready.
I realized that there was one gunman for each brother –
Adriano, Massimo, Roberto, Niccolo, Valentino…
…and Dario.
As I stood there with tears streaming down my face, I wanted to scream and warn them – but it wouldn’t have done any good.
The tape over my mouth would have muffled any sound I made – and there were still six thugs around me and the Turk. Any one of them would kill me if I made the slightest sound.
I just prayed that one of the brothers would hear the assassins and alert the others…
…before it was too late.
“In just a moment,” the Turk whispered in my ear, “all six Rosolinis will be dead, and their empire will be – ”
He never finished the sentence because gunshots cut him off.
I could see the muzzle flashes in the dark all around us.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!
I shrieked under the tape on my mouth, sure that I would die –
But it was the Turk’s men who dropped to the ground dead.
“WHAT?!” the Turk roared.
He pulled me up against him as a human shield and pressed his gun to my right temple.
Three men dressed in black came out of the darkness, their pistols pointed right at us.
Adriano…
Valentino…
And Dario.
“Let her go,” Dario said quietly, his voice steady.
“STOP!” the Turk screamed. “STOP, OR I’LL KILL HER!”
Dario put his arms up and pointed his pistol at the ceiling. “Adriano, Valentino… lower your guns and get back.”
Adriano tried to protest. “But – ”
“DO IT.”
Adriano and Valentino pointed their guns at the floor, then slowly stepped backwards into the shadows.
“There,” Dario said. “They’ve backed off. Now let her go.”
The Turk laughed. “I don’t think so.”
“If you let her go, I’ll let you walk out of here unharmed. You have my word.”
“Your word,” the Turk sneered. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“No, but you must think I am. Otherwise, why would you keep stalling?”
The Turk didn’t say anything.
“Do you hear that?” Dark asked.
There was only silence.
“There’s nothing to hear,” the Turk snapped.
“Exactly. All the men you sent upstairs are dead,” Dario said. “My brothers killed your assassins upstairs at the exact same moment we shot your men down here. It’s over. Let her go.”
The Turk became enraged. He tightened his left arm around my neck and jammed his gun harder into my skull.
“You fucking bitch traitor!” he hissed in my ear.
“She had nothing to do with it,” Dario said. “We were watching you on camera from the moment you came through the wall.”
The Turk wheezed like he had been punched. “But… there weren’t supposed to be any cameras…”
“Did you really think I would leave my entire estate unguarded? Now, stop pointing your gun at her… and aim it at me.”
The Turk stepped backwards and dragged me along with him.
“Aim your gun at me,” Dario repeated calmly.
I could hardly see him anymore, my eyes were so blurry with tears.
“Why bother?” the Turk hissed. “You’ll kill me no matter what.”
“No, I won’t – and neither will my brothers. I swear on my father’s grave.”
“And why should I believe you?”
“Because I’ll take her place,” Dario said calmly.
I tried to scream NO! beneath the tape over my mouth.
“Shhh, it’s fine,” he said to me in a calm voice, then looked back at the Turk. “Take me hostage, and you’ll walk out of here a free man. All you have to do is aim your gun at me, not her.”
The Turk hesitated – then demanded, “Get rid of your pistol first.”
“Alright… don’t shoot.”
Dario leaned over slowly, set his gun on the floor, and kicked it gently over to the Turk. Then he held up his hands.
“I’m defenseless. Take your gun away from her… and aim it at me.”
I could hear the Turk breathing behind my ear.
I could feel the barrel of his gun pressed against my head.
Suddenly the pressure went away, and I saw the gun swing out over my shoulder towards Dario.
I screamed into the duct tape covering my mouth.
“Fool,” the Turk snarled –
And then there was a single flash of light up on the second floor, a muffled PTOK –
And the Turk fell away from me, his arm sliding off my neck.
I stood there trembling as the bastard’s body thudded on the floor behind me.
