Chapter 10 - AT GUNPOINT
The chrome barrel of Vanessa’s revolver glistened under the blinding spotlight.
Her hand didn't even shake.
“Drop the binder, Luca,” Vanessa commanded, her voice dripping with venom.
“Or I’ll scatter your little girlfriend’s brains across these railroad tracks right now.”
My stomach plummeted.
I looked at Luca.
His face remained carved from absolute ice, but his jaw muscles clenched so hard I thought bone would snap.
“Put the gun down, Vanessa,” Luca said coldly.
“You’ve already lost. Marco has the federal wiretap recordings.”
Vincenzo Bellini stepped forward from the shadows.
He was a tall, silver-haired man with immaculate tailoring and cold, dead eyes.
“Marco is currently tied to a chair in a warehouse three miles away, waiting for his execution, son,” Vincenzo laughed softly.
“You severely underestimated how deep our reach goes into this city.”
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.
This was the end.
We had walked right into their execution zone.
“Emma,” Vanessa hissed, turning her gaze toward me with pure hatred.
“You really thought a minimum-wage maid could outplay a Bellini? You were nothing more than dirt beneath my shoes.”
She cocked the hammer of her revolver.
“Let’s start with the maid.”
She shifted the aim away from Luca and pointed the barrel directly at my chest.
Time seemed to slow down to an agonizing crawl.
I saw the slight squeeze of her trigger finger.
I saw the flash of steel.
Suddenly, Luca moved with terrifying, blinding speed.
He didn't lunge for Vanessa.
Instead, he violently shoved me behind a heavy iron rail switch box.
*CRACK!*
A gunshot shattered the night air.
A bullet slammed into the metal box right beside my ear, showering me with red-hot shrapnel.
“KILL THEM BOTH!” Vincenzo screamed.
Hell broke loose across the rail yard.
Automatic gunfire erupted from a dozen mercenaries simultaneously.
Sparks flew from the railcars, metal screeching under the barrage of lead.
Amidst the chaos, a deafening explosion echoed from the north gate.
A massive wall of orange fire erupted into the sky, lighting up the entire Chicago harbor.
“What the hell is that?!” Vanessa shrieked, momentarily distracted as a truck plowed through the security fence.
The truck slammed to a halt, and a figure leaped from the driver's seat holding a heavy-caliber riot shotgun.
Marco Moretti.
“SURPRISE, BITCHES!” Marco roared, opening fire with buckshot that scattered Vincenzo’s mercenaries in every direction.
Luca grabbed my hand from behind the rail box.
May you like
“Run!” he screamed.
We sprinted through the blinding crossfire toward Marco’s idling truck as the ultimate showdown began.
