CHAPTER 6: The Trap Inside the Restaurant
CHAPTER 6: The Trap Inside the Restaurant
Thursday evening.
The restaurant reopened after two unusually quiet days.
Rumors about Brett's dismissal had spread throughout Chicago.
Business was booming.
Everyone wanted to dine where the infamous Salvatore Marquetti had publicly defended a waitress.
Tessa hated the attention.
Customers smiled at her.
Reporters lingered outside.
Some even asked for photographs.
She refused every request.
She simply wanted to work.
At exactly seven o'clock...
Salvatore arrived.
Alone.
As always.
Except tonight...
He didn't go to the private room.
Instead...
He chose a table in the center of the dining room.
Every customer noticed.
Whispers spread instantly.
"Why is he sitting there?"
"He always eats alone."
"This is strange..."
Tessa approached cautiously.
She smiled politely.
Then signed.
Good evening.
He answered.
Good evening.
Half the restaurant gasped.
Dozens of people watched their silent conversation without understanding a single word.
Salvatore wanted exactly that.
His men had discovered something disturbing.
The enemy had eyes inside the restaurant.
So he had decided to become the bait.
If someone intended to attack Tessa...
They would have to do it in front of him.
Across the dining room...
A new waiter adjusted his uniform.
No one recognized him.
He had been hired that morning through a temporary staffing agency.
He pushed a dessert cart toward Salvatore's table.
Security checked him once.
Nothing suspicious.
The cart rolled closer.
Closer.
Then...
Tessa noticed something.
His hands.
Not his face.
His hands.
Every experienced server carried heavy trays a certain way.
This man's fingers had no pressure marks.
No burns.
No knife scars.
They were smooth.
Perfect.
Like someone who had never worked in a restaurant.
She froze.
Then she saw it.
A tiny wire disappearing beneath the dessert tray.
Bomb.
Her eyes widened.
Without thinking...
She screamed.
"GET DOWN!"
At the same instant, she lunged across the table.
The waiter reached beneath the cart.
Salvatore reacted instantly.
His bodyguard fired.
The bullet struck the man's shoulder.
But...
Too late.
The explosion erupted.
Glass shattered across the dining room.
Tables flipped.
Smoke swallowed everything.
People screamed.
The chandelier crashed onto the marble floor.
For several terrifying seconds...
No one could see anything.
When the smoke finally began to clear...
Customers looked around in panic.
They expected bodies.
Instead...
They saw something unforgettable.
Tessa lay across Salvatore, shielding him with her own body.
Blood ran down her forehead.
Her uniform was torn.
One arm hung unnaturally still.
Salvatore stared at her in stunned silence.
She had thrown herself between him and death.
Not because he was a mafia boss.
Not because he was powerful.
Because he was another human being.
His hands shook violently as he signed.
Can you see me?
She smiled weakly.
Then signed back with trembling fingers.
Yes...
Can you?
For the first time since losing his family...
Salvatore felt genuine fear.
Not for himself.
For someone else.
Outside...
The wounded assassin laughed despite the blood pouring from his shoulder.
He whispered into a hidden microphone.
"Message delivered."
Before security reached him...
A sniper's bullet from a nearby rooftop struck his chest.
He died instantly.
Silenced.
Someone was erasing every trail.
From the rooftop across the street, a shadow lowered a rifle.
Watching the chaos below, the mysterious mastermind murmured coldly,
"Very good, Salvatore."
"Now you'll protect her with your heart..."
May you like
"...which means you'll make mistakes."
He disappeared into the darkness before anyone ever saw his face.
