Library
Maghanap
Home / LGBTQ+ / THE MORETTI PROTOCOL / CHAPTER 5: The Bitter Truth

Share

CHAPTER 5: The Bitter Truth

Author: Ansh Marie Toperz
last update Petsa ng paglalathala: 2026-08-27 22:20:25

The oversized fleece sweater swallowed Alessia’s frame, its hem falling past her thighs, while the drawstrings of the thick sweatpants had to be pulled tight against her waist. The fabric was heavy, saturated with the scent of the woman standing across from her—cedarwood, a hint of gun oil, and that lingering, dangerous amber note from the lounge. It felt like a physical weight, a constant reminder of the intimate wreckage they had caused.

Alessia sat on the edge of a rustic wooden chair near the hearth, her damp, dark hair sticking to her neck. Her hands wrapped tightly around a tin mug of hot black coffee the other woman had silently placed in front of her. The warmth of the fire baked her skin, but it couldn't touch the freezing vacuum of betrayal expanding in her chest.

The woman stood a few feet away, leaning against the fireplace mantel. She had shed her dirt-stained suit jacket and wore only a black tactical undershirt clinging to her shoulders. She looked exhausted, her usual phantom-like composure chipped away by the room's raw, suffocating reality.

"I’m wearing your clothes," Alessia began, her voice quiet but lethal, cutting through the crackle of the burning pine logs. She didn't look up from her mug. "I’m drinking your coffee. I ran from my own empire with you. Now, give me my answers. No more deflections. No more assassin riddles. Who are you, and why were you in my bedroom?"

The woman let out a slow, heavy breath, her amber eyes reflecting the dancing flames. "My name is Valerie Cruz," she said, the truth costing her an immense effort. "In your world, they call me the Phantom."

Alessia’s hand froze. The tin mug rattled slightly against her fingernails. Her obsidian gaze snapped up, locking onto the assassin with a terrifying intensity. Valerie Cruz. A real name to match the legendary, ghost-like contract killer who had dismantled entire cartels without leaving a single fingerprint. A myth that syndicate families paid fortunes to unleash on their worst enemies.

Alessia stared at her for a long, agonizing moment. The silence in the cabin stretched until it was taut enough to snap. Then, a bitter, dangerous smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and a soft, hollow laugh escaped her throat.

"Valerie Cruz," Alessia repeated the name, tasting the syllables as if they were a rare poison. She leaned back in the chair, her dark eyes glittering in the firelight. "Hmm, I didn't know I would get to know your name in this way. How ironic is that?"

She tilted her head, her gaze drifting to the empty spaces of the room before locking back onto Valerie. "I went to that lounge to escape the monsters. I chose a nameless stranger because I wanted one night where a name didn't dictate a body count. And it turns out, the woman who held me is the biggest monster of them all."

"I didn't know who you were, Alessia." Valerie took a step forward, her voice tight with a desperate, uncharacteristic panic. "You have to believe me. Three days ago, an encrypted priority contract landed on my terminal. The bounty was eight figures. The target was the newly crowned Iron Queen of the Moretti Syndicate. But the file was corrupted. Your inner circle had scrubbed your likeness from the digital grid after your father died. There were no photos. No physical descriptions."

Alessia listened, her tactical mind instantly dissecting every syllable, checking for flaws, checking for lies.

"The only data the client provided was a location," Valerie continued, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. "They knew you snuck out to The Obsidian Room on Friday nights under a corporate alias. My assignment was to go to the lounge, observe, identify the Queen by tracking her security or her paranoia, and eliminate her. I went there to find a mob boss. But instead... I met you. And I fell hopelessly in love with you before I ever even saw your real face."

"So you left my bed because you realized who I was?" Alessia hissed, her heart twisting.

"No, I left your bed still completely blind!" Valerie slammed her palm against the stone mantle, her composure breaking. "I left the penthouse without knowing it yet. I thought you were just an ordinary woman I had accidentally fallen for. I went back to my safehouse intending to continue the contract. I was going to push forward with the assassination, completely unaware of the truth. Only when I arrived and booted up my system to finalize the execution parameters did the client's final, decrypted data packet finally clear. That's when I saw it. On the screen, the high-resolution photo of Alessia Moretti loaded. And my entire world collapsed. I realized the woman I had just held in my arms—the one I was now deeply in love with—was the exact person I had set out to kill."

The word love hung heavily in the quiet cabin, thick and agonizing.

"I came straight back to the penthouse to warn you," Valerie said, her voice dropping to a hollow whisper. "But my client was already watching my delay. The moment I hesitated, they realized I had compromised the contract. They sent a liquidation squad to wipe the slate clean. They want us both dead now, Alessia."

Alessia took a slow sip of the bitter coffee, letting the heat burn her throat. The betrayal was real, but so was the rescue. Valerie had thrown away her perfect reputation, her millions, and her safety to run into a hail of bullets for her.

"An eight-figure bounty," Alessia murmured, her dark eyes narrowing as a cold, calculating realization settled into her mind. "A faction that knew my exact, classified routine at the lounge. A faction capable of jamming my private penthouse grid and neutralizing my security detail in minutes."

She set the tin mug down on the table and stood up slowly. The oversized sweater hung off one of her shoulders, but her posture was entirely regal once more. She looked directly at the assassin who held her heart captive.

"There are only three people in the entire world who knew about my visits to The Obsidian Room," Alessia said, her voice dropping into a chilling, absolute frost. "And one of them is my underboss, Maddie Ferro."

Patuloy na basahin ang aklat na ito nang libre
I-scan ang code upang i-download ang App
Nakaraang Kabanata Susunod na kabanata

Pinakabagong kabanata

  • THE MORETTI PROTOCOL    EPILOGUE: Where the Air is Clear

    One year had bled into the earth, and the wild coastal grass of the northern cliffs had grown thick and vibrant, reclaiming the pathways where the manual tools had once groaned. The city eighty miles to the south remained a locked vault under the flawless, silent coordination of the high capos, but its shadow could no longer reach the ridge. The coordinates of silence had officially transformed into a sovereign kingdom of two.Inside the completed stone house, the brilliant midday sun poured through the towering panoramic glass panels, washing the cedar floorboards in a warm, buttery gold. The vast space was completely silent, saved for the gentle, rhythmic hum of the ocean breeze and the comfortable crackle of a quiet cedar fire drying on the hearth.Valerie stood by the massive soapstone counter in the kitchen, dressed in a simple, loose white linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her broad shoulders were perfectly relaxed, stripped entirely of the hyper-vigilant ten

  • THE MORETTI PROTOCOL    CHAPTER 50: The Final Covenant

    The great, silent weight of midnight fell over the northern cliffs like a curtain of dark velvet, pinned to the sky by a spectacular scatter of cold, brilliant stars. The restless Atlantic tide below had softened into a deep, rhythmic hum, its heavy white surf gently bruising the jagged granite foundations of the fortress three hundred feet down. The mountain winds that had once lashed violently against the glass had died, leaving the vast coastal night completely still, frozen in a timeless, sacred peace.The heavy iron bolt of the cedar door was thrown wide open, allowing the cool, salt-laced midnight air to drift cleanly through the open living space.Alessia walked out onto the raw granite plateau, her bare feet stepping carefully over the smooth stone. She had wrapped herself in a long, dark velvet cloak over her silk shift, her dark hair falling in soft, wild waves over her shoulders. She stepped right to the precipice of the high cliff, her obsidian eyes staring out into the en

  • THE MORETTI PROTOCOL    CHAPTER 49: The Horizon of Two

    The heavy leather satchels, the hand-stamped manifests, and the encrypted banking slips were gone, completely cleared from the polished cedar table. The blueprints of the estate had been rolled up and stored away, no longer needed now that the stone house stood solid and complete against the rugged cliffs. For the first time since Valerie had crossed the threshold of the penthouse weeks ago, there was absolutely nothing left to calculate. The city below had fallen into a quiet, frozen submission under the rule of the loyal capos, leaving the edge of the earth entirely to them.The late afternoon sun was beginning its slow, magnificent descent, bleeding across the endless expanse of the Atlantic in a spectacular sheet of bruised purple, deep rose, and burning amber. Through the massive, panoramic glass panels, the light flooded the main room, painting the log beams and the hand-carved granite blocks in a warm, suffocatingly beautiful glow.Alessia stood by the massive stone hearth, wat

  • THE MORETTI PROTOCOL    CHAPTER 48: The Banners of the Coast

    The relentless tide of the senses had finally settled into a deep, unshakable clarity. Outside the hand-carved stone walls, the fierce spring gales had softened into a steady, warming breeze that swept over the blooming coastal cliffs, carrying the sharp, clean scent of the open sea. The fortress remained an impenetrable bastion, completely isolated from the digital grid, but it was time to formalize the lines of the new kingdom. Alessia sat at the polished cedar table, the bright afternoon sun illuminating the heavy parchment sheets of the new syndicate infrastructure. She was dressed in a simple, high-collared charcoal tunic that elegantly draped over her frame, her dark hair pinned up seamlessly. The persistent, heavy soreness in her muscles had given way to a profound sense of grounded strength. Her left hand rested flat against the wood, where the solid platinum wedding band caught the light directly beside the tarnished silver signet ring of the Moretti bloodline. Valerie sto

  • THE MORETTI PROTOCOL    CHAPTER 47: The Twilight Ledger

    The thick lavender steam evaporated into the cool, dark air of the main room as they finally stepped out of the soapstone bath. The twilight outside had deep-bled into a rich, velvety indigo, pulling a vast blanket of stars over the roaring Atlantic waves. The mountain wind howled against the hand-carved granite blocks of the fortress, but the cold was completely locked out.Alessia walked across the polished cedar floorboards, her wet, bare feet leaving dark footprints against the wood. She was wrapped loosely in a single, oversized dark grey bath sheet that Valerie had warmed by the fire, her damp hair spilling over her bare shoulders. Every step she took felt heavy, her muscles singing with a deep, intoxicating ache from the relentless, breathtaking hours they had spent devouring each other.She stopped right before the massive stone hearth, where the newly fed logs of old-growth cedar were burning into a roaring, fierce bonfire. The blistering heat hit her skin instantly, drying t

  • THE MORETTI PROTOCOL    CHAPTER 46: The Tide of the Senses

    The fortress bathroom's steamy air was thick and heavy, carrying the rich, soothing fragrance of crushed lavender oil and cedarwood. The late afternoon sun broke through the high, frosted panoramic windows, slicing through the rising mist in long, glowing pillars of amber light. At the center of the stone-lined floorboards sat the massive, custom-built soapstone soaking tub—hand-carved by Capo Bruno’s shipwrights and filled to the brim with near-scalding mountain water. Alessia leaned her head back against the smooth, rolled rim of the stone tub, her eyes half-closed as the hot water worked to soothe her aching muscles. Her dark hair was completely soaked, plastered in sleek strands against her neck. But there was no escaping the heat. Valerie sat directly behind her in the deep water, her tall frame acting as a solid, radiating wall against the Queen's spine. Her large, powerful arms were wrapped possessively around Alessia’s chest, her leather-calloused hands gently smoothing t

Higit pang Kabanata

Maaari mong magustuhan

Galugarin at basahin ang magagandang nobela
Libreng basahin ang magagandang nobela sa GoodNovel app. I-download ang mga librong gusto mo at basahin kahit saan at anumang oras.
Libreng basahin ang mga aklat sa app
I-scan ang code para mabasa sa App
DMCA.com Protection Status