THE MAFIA DON'S SAVIOR: I Slipped a Dying Warning Under His Bourbon Glass, and He Claimed My Debt in Blood

"No!"

The scream tore from my throat before I could stop it. The glass in my hand slipped, shattering against the polished concrete floor, water splashing across my leather boots.

"Leo!" I lunged toward Gabriel, gripping his forearm with both hands, my fingernails digging through his dress shirt. "You promised me! You said he was safe! You swore nobody could get to him!"

Gabriel didn't pull away. He held my frantic gaze with cold, absolute authority while listening to Dante through the receiver.

"Status on the boy," Gabriel ordered Dante, his voice steady as granite.

*"The hospital was a diversion, Boss,"* Dante reported, the sound of heavy engine revving in the background. *"The strike team at the hospital was light—three scouts trying to draw our perimeter guards away. Marcus evacuated Leo through the underground tunnel before they even reached the third floor. Leo is in the back of my armored Suburban right now. He’s unharmed."*

I let out a ragged, shuddering breath, my legs giving out beneath me. Gabriel caught me effortlessly by the waist, supporting my weight against his chest before I could hit the floor.

"Where are you taking him?" Gabriel asked Dante.

*"We were heading toward the Lincoln Tunnel to bring him back to the Alpine estate,"* Dante replied, his voice tense. *"Route Nine was blocked by an overturned fuel tanker. We got rerouted down toward the West Side Highway. Boss... they were waiting for us. Pier Forty-Two. We’re boxed in by three unmarked vans. Heavy fire. Marcus is down. I need backup now!"*

The sound of automatic gunfire erupted over the phone line—the sharp, unmistakable clatter of assault rifles chewing through sheet metal.

"Hold your position in the container yard," Gabriel snapped. "Deploy the smoke charges. I’m four minutes away."

He hung up, scooped his black overcoat off the couch, and racked the slide of his custom semi-automatic pistol with a crisp, lethal *clack*.

"Stay here," Gabriel ordered, turning toward the private elevator. "Lock the doors from the panel. Julian will be here in—"

"I’m coming with you," I said, stepping right into his path, my eyes burning with fierce desperation.

"Harper, this is a combat zone," Gabriel said, his voice sharpening with warning. "You are not stepping into crossfire."

"That is my nineteen-year-old brother trapped in that car!" I shouted, tears of pure rage spilling down my face. "I spent the last three years keeping him alive while you played king of the waterfront! If Leo dies tonight, I don't give a damn about your war, your ring, or your empire! I am coming, or you’ll have to shoot me yourself to keep me in this room!"

Gabriel stared at me. In the dim light of the penthouse, his dark eyes flared with an intense, burning respect. Most women in his world would have curled up into a ball in the master closet. I was standing in his way, ready to tear through steel to protect my family.

Without another word, he reached into the entry cabinet, pulled out a lightweight tactical Kevlar vest, and threw it over my emerald dress, strapping the velcro sides tight against my ribs.

"Keep your head down," he said, handing me a small, compact 9mm pistol. "Safety is off. Point and squeeze. If anyone wearing a serpent patch opens that door, you empty the magazine into their chest."

"Understood," I whispered, gripping the cold steel weapon.

We took the private elevator down to the subterranean garage. Gabriel bypassed the luxury sedans and leaped into the driver’s seat of a matte-black, reinforced Dodge Charger with tinted ballistic glass.

I jumped into the passenger seat, barely slamming the door before the supercharged engine roared to life with a deafening growl. The car launched out of the underground ramp, its tires screeching against the asphalt as Gabriel blew through the security gate into the pouring rain.

We hit the West Side Highway at ninety miles an hour, weaving through late-night traffic like a ghost.

Through the windshield, the dark industrial cranes of Pier Forty-Two loomed against the stormy sky like skeletal giants. The container terminal was a maze of rusted steel shipping crates stacked four stories high.

Ahead of us, the orange glow of muzzle flashes lit up the darkness between two rows of red cargo containers.

Gabriel killed the Charger’s headlights, dropping the car into a controlled drift around a towering stack of timber.

Through the rain-streaked window, I saw Dante’s armored black Suburban. It was pinned between two commercial flatbed trucks. The rear windows of the Suburban were spiderwebbed with bullet impacts, but the reinforced glass had held.

Four gunmen wearing tactical vests with silver snake patches on their shoulders were advancing on the vehicle, carrying shotguns and suppressed carbines, preparing to breach the reinforced doors with magnetic breaching charges.

Inside the Suburban, I caught a glimpse of Leo’s pale face pressed against the tinted glass, his eyes wide with sheer terror.

"Hold on," Gabriel growled.

He slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.

The Charger roared forward, accelerating directly into the flank of the nearest flatbed truck. The impact was seismic. The massive flatbed shuddered, crushing one of the hitmen against the steel shipping container with a sickening crunch.

Gabriel kicked his door open before the car even came to a complete stop, his weapon barking in the dark.

Two rapid shots punched through the chest of the second gunman, dropping him instantly onto the wet pavement.

"Dante! Suppressing fire!" Gabriel bellowed, moving with fluid, deadly precision through the rain.

I kicked my passenger door open, my hands shaking as I held the compact pistol close to my chest. The smell of burning rubber, cordite, and salt water from the river filled my lungs.

"Harper! Stay behind the car!" Gabriel roared.

Suddenly, a fifth man stepped out from the shadows of an overhead crane, raising a shotgun directly at Gabriel’s exposed back.

"Gabriel!" I screamed.

I didn't think. I didn't hesitate.