Chapter 5 - THE SIEGE OF THE MORETTI MANSION
The second-floor hallway echoed with the deafening cracks of suppressed gunfire.
I bolted the heavy oak bedroom door, shoving a massive mahogany dresser against the panels with all my strength.
Inside the adjoining bedroom, Lily woke up whimpering.
“Mommy? What's that loud noise?”
I rushed to her bedside, scooping her into my arms and hiding us both inside the walk-in closet behind a wall of heavy fur coats.
“Shh, baby,” I whispered against her hair, my own heart hammering so wildly I thought it would burst. “Mommy is right here. Close your eyes and hold onto me.”
The bedroom door rattled violently.
Wood splintered as a heavy kick struck the frame.
*Crash.*
Heavy footsteps entered the room.
I pressed my hand over my mouth to stifle my breathing.
Through the narrow crack in the closet door, I saw a silhouette holding an assault rifle with a thermal sight.
A masked man in tactical black gear stepped into the bedroom.
He swept his weapon across the room, murmuring into a comms unit.
“Target room clear. Moving to perimeter.”
He turned toward the closet.
My muscles locked.
I clutched Lily tighter, praying she wouldn't make a sound.
The man reached out a gloved hand and grabbed the closet door handle.
Suddenly, a shadow dropped from the ceiling vent directly behind him.
It was Gabriel.
With brutal efficiency, Gabriel wrapped his forearm around the intruder's neck, snapping it with a sickening crunch before the man could utter a single gasp.
The assailant slumped to the floor.
Gabriel didn't hesitate. He stripped the man's radio headset and spare magazines, checking the dead man's pulse before turning toward the closet.
He pulled the door open slowly.
His eyes met mine, filled with grim urgency.
“Are you hurt?” he whispered.
“No,” I breathed, shaking from head to toe. “We're okay.”
Gabriel scooped Lily into his arms alongside me.
“We have to move. Donato's hit squad breached the east wing. They're trying to burn the house down to cover their tracks.”
We hurried out of the bedroom into the smoky hallway.
The air was thick with the acrid smell of gunpowder and burning upholstery.
Gabriel led us down a narrow, hidden service staircase behind the library panels—a relic of the old bootlegging days.
“Where are we going?” I asked as we descended into the damp chill of the subterranean tunnels.
“To the safe house across town,” Gabriel said grimly. “The entire syndicate has turned against me. Donato made his move too soon, and now it's all-out war.”
We reached an armored SUV parked in the underground garage.
Gabriel bundled us into the back seat, slamming the heavy doors shut.
He jumped into the driver's seat, revved the powerful engine, and smashed through the estate's reinforced security gates just as the main mansion exploded in a massive ball of fire behind us.
I looked in the rearview mirror as the flames lit up the rainy Chicago night.
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There was no turning back now.
We were in the middle of a mafia war.
