Chapter 8 - The Price of Loyalty
Time seemed to freeze into slow motion.
Matteo raised his arm to aim, but Carmine’s finger was already squeezing the trigger.
"NO!"
Grace didn't think. She didn't calculate. She acted on pure instinct.
She lunged out from the threshold of the safe room, throwing her body directly into Matteo’s side, pushing him hard against the stone wall.
BANG!
The gunshot deafened the hallway.
Grace felt a sudden, blinding white heat tear through her left shoulder. The force of the bullet knocked her off her feet, and she hit the hard floor with a sickening thud, dark red spreading rapidly across her pale blue sweater.
"GRACE!" Matteo’s roar shook the very foundation of the house.
Before Don Carmine could cock his revolver for a second shot, a gray blur erupted from the smoke behind him.
Titan.
The massive pit bull leaped through the air, his powerful jaws locking around Carmine’s wrist, dragging the heavy mob boss to the floor with terrifying force. Carmine shrieked in agony as Nero arrived a second later, pinning his chest to the floor and holding him completely motionless with low, murderous growls echoing in his throat.
Matteo didn't even look at Carmine.
He dropped to his knees beside Grace, his hands trembling violently as he pressed his palm tightly over the bleeding wound on her shoulder.
"Grace! Look at me! Look at me, sweetheart!" Matteo sobbed, his voice breaking—a sound nobody in the mafia underworld had ever heard from the ruthless Boss. "Stay with me! Don't you dare close your eyes!"
"Matteo..." Grace whispered, her vision swimming with dark spots, her face pale as snow. "Are... are the dogs okay?"
"They're fine! They're alive! You saved us, Grace! You saved me!" Tears streamed down Matteo’s face, dropping onto her bloody sweater. "Marco! GET THE VET! GET THE SURGEON NOW!"
Marco rushed up the stairs, bloodied but victorious, holding his radio. "The house is secure, Boss! Carmine's men are down or captured! I'm calling the medical team!"
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Matteo picked Grace up into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest as if she were made of delicate glass, and carried her down into the sterile safe room.
Titan and Nero followed right at his heels, refusing to leave Grace’s side for even a single inch, their tails low, whining softly as their savior bled into their master's arms.
