Chapter 11 - THE CHOICE AURELIO COULD NOT MAKE|
"Put the weapon down!"
Aurelio's voice cut through the darkness.
Clara stood between him and her father, the metal case pressed against her chest.
Edward was leaning against the storage unit, his shirt stained with blood.
Aurelio lowered his gun slightly.
"Clara, move away from him."
"No."
"He's wounded."
"Because your family sent men after him."
Aurelio looked toward the two men approaching from the opposite side of the property.
"They aren't mine."
"How convenient."
His jaw tightened.
"Listen to me. We have less than a minute."
Clara refused to move.
Aurelio holstered his weapon and took off his coat.
"Let me see the wound."
Edward pushed Clara behind him.
"Stay away from her."
Aurelio looked at the older man.
"You can hate me later. Right now, she needs you alive."
For a moment, Edward seemed ready to refuse.
Then another gunshot struck the metal door beside them.
Aurelio grabbed Clara's arm.
"Get in the car!"
They ran.
His driver had already opened the rear door.
Clara helped Edward inside while Aurelio shouted instructions to his men.
The vehicle accelerated before the door was completely closed.
For the next several minutes, nobody spoke.
Edward was losing blood.
Clara pressed a folded cloth against his wound.
Aurelio removed his jacket and placed it beneath the older man's head.
"Stay awake," he ordered.
Edward glared at him.
"Don't give me orders."
"Then consider it a request."
Clara looked at Aurelio.
"Why did you come?"
"Because Matteo told me Anselmo had found the ledger."
"How did Matteo know?"
"He's been working against our uncle for years."
"Convenient again."
Aurelio accepted the accusation without answering.
The car arrived at a private medical clinic.
Edward was taken inside immediately.
Clara remained in the waiting room.
Aurelio stood several feet away, his hands covered in blood.
For the first time since she had met him, he looked genuinely frightened.
"Will he survive?" she asked.
"The doctor thinks so."
She looked at him.
"You knew about the trust."
Aurelio said nothing.
"You knew my mother."
His eyes lifted.
"Yes."
"And you knew who I was before you proposed."
He hesitated.
"I knew your mother had a daughter. I didn't know it was you until I saw the old photograph in the Bellara archive."
"When?"
"Three weeks before I proposed."
Clara felt a sharp pain in her chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wanted to understand why your name appeared in the original ownership records."
"You proposed to me to get Bellara."
"Not entirely."
"Not entirely?"
He moved closer.
"Clara, I did love you."
She laughed, but there was no humor in it.
"You don't get to divide that sentence into percentages."
Aurelio looked down.
"I was trying to protect you from Anselmo."
"By using my name?"
"I was trying to get control of the company before he could."
"You could have told me."
"He would have killed you."
"And now?"
Aurelio looked directly at her.
"Now he knows you have the ledger."
The clinic doors opened.
A surgeon approached.
"Mr. Bennett is stable. We've stopped the bleeding."
Clara released a breath.
Then the surgeon continued.
"But there's a complication. Someone removed his identification documents before he arrived."
Clara frowned.
"What?"
The surgeon handed her a small envelope.
"We found this in his coat."
Inside was a photograph of Clara as a little girl.
May you like
On the back, in her mother's handwriting, were the words:
If Edward ever returns, don't believe everything he tells you.
