Chapter 6 - Blood on the Pavement
Two days later, the intelligence gathered from the failed attack pointed to a decisive counter-strike. Dominic needed to meet with an informant in the financial district to secure the final piece of financial evidence that would legally and financially eviscerate the Moretti family.
He didn't want to leave the compound, but time was running out.
“You’re coming with me,” Dominic told Sadie as she stood in the foyer. “I’m not leaving you behind while I’m out of the perimeter.”
“I’m your prisoner now?” she raised an eyebrow.
“You’re my priority,” he corrected, his tone absolute.
They rode in an armored town car flanked by two SUVs full of armed guards. The city was gray and wet, the afternoon shadows lengthening across the towering skyscrapers.
They pulled into an underground parking garage beneath a gleaming glass tower. The air smelled of exhaust and damp concrete.
As Dominic’s door opened, his head of security stepped out first, scanning the shadows.
“Boss, something’s wrong,” the guard muttered, his hand dropping to his holster. “The lights on level three are tripped.”
Before Dominic could draw his weapon, the glass booth at the garage entrance shattered.
Automatic gunfire raked across the side of the armored car, sparking violently against the reinforced windows.
“Ambush!” a guard shouted outside before a volley of return fire erupted.
Inside the car, chaos reigned. Bullets pinged off the metal frame like angry hornets.
Dominic immediately threw his body over Sadie, shielding her with his broad shoulders as glass starred and spiderwebbed.
“Stay down!” he commanded, pulling his pistol.
Through the bullet-riddled front windshield, Sadie saw a figure emerge from behind a concrete pillar, raising an assault rifle directly toward the driver’s side where Dominic’s head of security was pinned.
Instinct overrode fear.
Sadie’s eyes scanned the floor of the car. Her foot caught the heavy metal base of a steel thermos Dominic had left on the floorboard.
Without hesitating, she reached down, grabbed it, kicked open the rear door on the opposite side—away from the line of fire—and hurled the heavy thermos with all her might at the concrete pillar, smashing it against the fire alarm box.
CLANG!
The industrial sprinkler system instantly flooded the garage with high-pressure water, creating an opaque wall of artificial rain and mist that blinded the shooters and threw off their thermal sights.
In the sudden chaos, Dominic didn't hesitate. He kicked his door open, stepped out into the cascading water, and fired three precise shots through the mist.
Silence fell over the garage, broken only by the hiss of the sprinklers and the heavy breathing of the guards.
Dominic rushed back to the car, pulling open the rear door. His hands gripped her shoulders, his eyes wild with a terror she had never seen on him before.
“Are you hit?” he demanded, running his hands over her arms, checking for blood.
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“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Sadie gasped, breathing heavily.
Dominic pulled her hard against his chest, burying his face in her hair. For a moment, the untouchable mafia king was just a man holding onto the only thing keeping him anchored to the world.
