Chapter 3 Ghosts with Guns

"That's not possible."

But I already knew it was.

The voice playing from the speakers wasn't a fake.

It was him.

My father.

Luca Moretti.

Dead men don't confess to murder.

So either he was alive...

Or I buried a lie.

> "She betrayed the code. She tried to burn it all. So I burned her."

"Don't let her death be for nothing, Raven. You know what you have to do."

The file ended.

The screen went dark.

And something inside me cracked.

"Raven."

Jaxon's voice was low. Controlled.

I couldn't look at him.

If I did, I'd break harder.

"I killed him," I whispered. "I killed him."

"You sure?"

"I shot him in the chest. I watched him fall."

"Did you check the body?"

The question hit like a punch.

No.

I didn't.

I ran.

Because I couldn't face what I'd done.

Or what I didn't.

I stood too fast. My knees buckled.

Jaxon caught me.

Again.

This was becoming a pattern.

One I hated.

One I needed.

"Let me go."

He didn't.

"You need to breathe."

"I need to kill him."

"That's fair. But breathe first."

I shoved him, hard enough to make him stumble.

He didn't react.

Didn't even flinch.

Just stared at me like I was a match he couldn't help striking.

"He killed her," I said.

"And now he wants me to finish what he started."

"Maybe he wants you to destroy it."

"Or maybe he wants to destroy me."

Silence.

Then Jaxon said something that turned my stomach.

"He's not working alone."

I blinked. "What?"

"I've been tracking someone through the dark web. A phantom with access to international firewalls, off-grid account trails, and biometric scramblers."

"And?"

"Three weeks ago, that phantom made contact with a shell corporation registered to the Moretti family vault. The login key? Your heartbeat."

My stomach dropped.

"You're saying he has my prints?"

"No. He has your blood."

I turned toward him. "That's impossible."

Jaxon opened a drawer, pulled out a small black box, and placed it on the table.

He clicked it open.

Inside?

A syringe.

Filled with blood.

Labeled: RM-1.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"One of my informants intercepted it during a trade in Berlin. Sold on the black market to a buyer under the alias Capo Nero."

The Black Boss.

My father's old codename.

My voice came out low. Hollow. "He's been planning this for years."

Jaxon nodded.

"And now he's ready to make his move."

"Then let's beat him to it."

[Scene Shift – Jaxon's War Room]

The war room looked like a military command center fused with a hacker's dream.

Three walls of screens.

Live feeds. Code lines. Facial recognition.

And in the center?

A glowing red circle.

Target zone: Montevista Private Bank, Geneva.

Jaxon pointed. "Your father's last financial drop was traced to a vault inside this bank. Registered under your name, five years ago."

"I never opened an account in Switzerland."

"You didn't. But your mother did. In your name."

I stared at the screen.

"I need to get to that vault."

"You will."

"When?"

He looked at me.

"Tonight."

We left through the underground exit black SUV, no plates, tinted to hell.

Dev was already in the driver's seat.

"Geneva jet's ready in thirty. We're cleared under a false manifest."

"Security?"

"Local team on standby. Clean weapons. No ties to Vega Holdings."

"Good."

In the back seat, I stayed quiet.

Jaxon studied me through the dark glass.

"You're not saying much."

"I'm thinking."

"Dangerous habit."

"Only when you're the target."

He smirked. "So I'm still your target?"

"No," I said softly. "Not yet."

[Scene Shift – Montevista Bank, Geneva – 3 Hours Later]

The bank was modern, elite, empty after midnight.

Our fake IDs passed the scanner. The clerk didn't blink twice.

We were escorted down into the sub-level vaults.

The deeper we went, the heavier the air became.

Like the walls themselves were holding secrets.

Vault 103. Nameplate: R.M.

The clerk stepped back. "We'll give you privacy."

He left.

Jaxon placed a hand on the scanner.

It blinked green.

The vault door opened with a hiss.

Inside?

Nothing.

Just a metal box on a pedestal.

Jaxon scanned the room. "No heat signatures."

I walked to the box.

I opened it.

Inside?

A flash drive.

A photograph.

And a bullet.

The photo was of me.

Ten years old.

Sitting on my mother's lap.

Smiling.

The bullet was engraved with two letters:

J.V.

My hands trembled.

"This is a threat," I whispered.

Jaxon stepped beside me. "No. This is bait."

"For what?"

"For you."

The flash drive beeped.

Screen lit up.

A video file.

I hit play.

> "She was going to run, Raven."

"She was going to take you and disappear."

"So I made sure she never could."

"Now it's your turn to decide blood or loyalty."

Jaxon reached out and slammed the laptop shut.

"No more."

"But "

"No." His eyes were wild. Dark. Real.

"He's not playing with you. He's trying to turn you into him."

Jaxon turned away.

But something fell from his pocket.

A folded piece of paper.

I picked it up.

Unfolded it.

It was a photo.

Of my mother.

Standing next to Jaxon.

Two weeks before she died.

The photograph fluttered in my hand like it didn't know how heavy it was.

But I did.

Because the woman smiling in it wasn't just my mother.

She was alive. Laughing.

And standing next to the man I was now sleeping with.

"Jaxon."

His name came out like a loaded gun.

He turned.

Saw what I was holding.

Didn't move.

Didn't lie.

Didn't deny.

Just... stood there.

"Tell me this isn't what it looks like," I said.

His jaw tensed. "It is."

"You knew her?"

"Yes."

"Before she died?"

"Yes."

"You were working with her?" My voice cracked.

Another yes, and I swear I would've pulled the trigger I wasn't even holding.

But he didn't say it.

He said something worse.

"I was watching her."

Time stopped.

I stepped back. The vault was suddenly too small. The air is too tight.

"You were sent after my mother."

"Yes."

"By who?"

"Your father."

It hit like a knife through my chest.

I laughed.

Not because it was funny.

Because it was insane.

"Of course," I whispered. "Of course you were the one watching her."

"I didn't kill her."

"But you knew she was going to die."

He didn't answer.

I stared at him really stared. The man with the sharp suits, colder heart, and quiet obsession.

The man I'd kissed.

The man I almost trusted.

"You were watching her... and now you're watching me."

He took a step toward me.

I raised the photo like a shield.

"Don't," I warned. "Don't come closer."

"I didn't hurt her."

"No, you just followed her. Let her get close. Used her. Like you're doing with me."

He flinched at that one.

Good.

I wanted him to feel it.

"I was assigned to monitor her," he said. "That's true."

"But?"

"But I didn't report everything I saw. Because what I saw didn't fit the mission."

"Which was?"

"To confirm her plans to leak the vault intel and destroy the Moretti code."

"And?"

He paused.

"She was trying to protect you. She wanted to disappear with you. Start over."

"And my father couldn't allow that."

"No. So he ordered the hit."

I stared at him.

"You watched her die, didn't you?"

"No."

"Liar."

He didn't deny it this time.

I just stepped forward slowly and looked down at the photo in my hand.

"I fell in love with her," he said softly.

The words slammed into me like a fist.

"What?"

"I was nineteen. She was already dying inside that house. I didn't know she was your mother at first. She used a different name."

I felt like I was being swallowed whole.

"You loved her?"

"I didn't understand it until she was gone."

I couldn't breathe.

Not because of him.

Because of her.

Because of the lies.

Because if she loved him back... why didn't she run?

He reached out to touch me.

I slapped his hand away.

"You don't get to touch me. Not after this."

"Raven "

"You think just because you tell me the truth now, it makes up for the lies?"

"No."

"Then why are you still here?"

He looked at me.

Not the cold billionaire.

Not the violent ghost.

Just a man. Haunted.

"Because I failed her."

"And I won't fail you."

I should've walked away.

I should've left him in that vault and never looked back.

But I didn't.

Because some part of me still wanted him to fix it.

Still wanted to believe he could protect me from the war I was about to bring.

I still wanted the fire.

"What's next?" I asked.

He nodded once. "We are going back to New York. We pull every asset. We go on offense."

"And the vault files?"

"You open them."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then someone else will."

I knew what that meant.

If I didn't use the weapon my mother left me...

My father would.

We left the vault.

The air outside felt different.

Like the ground was already burning beneath us.

[Scene Shift – Private Jet, 3 Hours Later]

Back on the plane, Jaxon was silent.

I was staring at the file labeled: PROJECT R.M.

Last modified: the day after my mother died.

Password required: 10 characters. All numbers.

I tried it on my mother's birthday.

Wrong.

My father's.

Wrong.

My brother's.

Wrong.

I closed my eyes and whispered the number that haunted me.

The day I set fire to the estate.

0729.2019

The file opened.

Dozens of folders.

Documents.

Photos.

One message at the bottom.

> "If you're reading this, then I failed. But you still have a chance. Use it. Destroy him before he destroys you."

Mom

I looked up at Jaxon.

And for the first time, I felt something worse than fear.

Resolve.

"We finished this."

He nodded.

And for a split second, I thought we were on the same side.

Until I opened the next document.

And saw his name.

Jaxon M. Vega Asset #013

His photo. His name.

And beneath it:

> "PRIMARY HANDLER TARGET: Raven M. Moretti."

The file was still open on the tablet, the words still glowing, burned into my brain:

Jaxon M. Vega Asset #013

Primary Handler Target: Raven M. Moretti

I couldn't breathe.

"You were sent after me."

It was a statement, but I wasn't sure if I was asking or accusing him. The words felt like they had weight, like they could tear me apart if I said them too loudly. If I let them sink in fully.

Jaxon didn't move. He didn't even blink.

His hand rested casually on the armrest between us, but I knew better than to think he wasn't watching me. He was always watching me.

But the silence stretched on, and that was the worst part.

He wasn't denying it.

I wanted to throw the tablet across the plane.

I wanted to scream.

But instead, I felt the anger begin to simmer beneath the surface, slow and thick, like it was trying to eat me from the inside out.

Jaxon's voice was quiet when he finally spoke. "I didn't choose this."

"You don't get to say that," I snapped, my fingers tightening around the tablet. "You didn't choose this, but you played the game. You were a part of it. You were sent after me, to handle me, to control me. And for what? To make sure I didn't escape? To make sure I didn't get away?"

"I'm not your enemy." His words came too quickly, too urgently. "Raven, I "

"Shut up."

His jaw clenched. "I didn't come here to betray you."

"And yet you still did. You didn't come here because you wanted to protect me. You came because someone told you to. And don't try to tell me otherwise. You were following orders from the start."

I wasn't sure who was trembling now, me or him.

Jaxon stood up abruptly. "This is bigger than you think, Raven. And bigger than me. This isn't about us."

"Isn't it?" I shot back, staring at him, my throat tight, my heart thumping in my chest. "How is it not about us? You've been lying to me from the very first moment we met. You kissed me, you touched me, you made me feel things I shouldn't feel. And now you expect me to just forget everything because you say it's bigger than us?"

The plane lurched slightly, the faint hum of the engines filling the space around us, but inside my head, there was nothing but a thick silence.

I couldn't look at him. I couldn't look at the way his eyes betrayed every word he said, every excuse he gave. The truth was there out in the open and it was suffocating me.

But then, as if the weight of everything wasn't enough, Jaxon stepped closer.

"It's about your father," he said, his voice low, raw. "It always has been. And it's about the people who want you dead."

The words hit me like a slap. I snapped my head up, my eyes widening. "What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your father's business, his empire, there are factions within it, people with motives, agendas. And they'll stop at nothing to take you out."

"Because I'm the heir?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"No." He shook his head, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "Because your father is a liability. And so are you."

The world tilted.

What did he mean?

My heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode. "You're lying. You don't even know what you're talking about."

"I'm not lying. Your father has been hiding things, secrets, things that could bring the entire Moretti empire down. I was supposed to keep you in the dark. I was supposed to control you, keep you in check."

"By keeping me in a cage?" I shot back, my voice trembling with rage. "Is that what you thought? That I'd just sit back and let you control my life?"

"No. I thought I could protect you," he said quietly, his voice full of regret. "I thought if I kept you close, I could make sure you weren't dragged into this war."

A bitter laugh escaped me, despite myself. "Close? Is that what this is? You keep me close, making sure I don't escape, making sure I never find out the truth?"

He took another step closer, his face hard but full of pain. "Raven, you don't understand. There are people who would use you as a weapon. People who would destroy everything you love just to get their hands on your father's empire."

The pain in his voice, the weight of his words, made my heart skip.

But I couldn't let myself fall for it again. Not when I didn't know what was real anymore.

"I don't believe you," I said, but the conviction was weak, even to my own ears. "You think you can protect me? You think you're the one who gets to decide what's best for me?"

"I didn't choose to fall for you, Raven," he whispered. "I didn't choose to feel the way I do. But I swear to you, I won't let anything happen to you. Not while I'm still breathing."

The sincerity in his eyes made my insides twist. The man I'd been sleeping with. The man I thought was just a pawn in my father's game.

Was he lying? Or had he been trying to protect me all along?

I stepped back. "I don't need your protection. I don't need anything from you."

His face darkened, and for a moment, I thought he might snap. But instead, he turned away. His shoulders were stiff with restraint.

"I'm not asking you to need me."

I didn't know what to say to that.

The plane shook slightly as we flew over the clouds. The world outside the window was a dark void. The tension inside the cabin was even darker.

I wanted to hate him.

I wanted to scream and rage and tear everything apart.

But instead, all I could do was sit there in silence, the weight of the truth pressing down on me.

The file was still open. The message from my mother is still glowing.

"If you're reading this, then I failed. But you still have a chance. Use it. Destroy him before he destroys you."

Suddenly, the plane's alert system sounded a sharp, urgent beep.

"We have an incoming threat."

Jaxon stood up immediately, his eyes darkening. "We're not alone."