Chapter 6 - Blood on the Asphalt
The bullet missed Adrian’s temple by less than two inches, burrowing into the timber frame of the hotel behind him.
Without thinking, Adrian lunged forward, throwing his entire weight across Claire and tackling her to the slate floor of the terrace just as a hail of automatic gunfire tore through the wicker furniture and glass balustrades above their heads.
""Marco! Return fire!"" Adrian roared, covering Claire’s body with his own, pressing her head firmly into his chest.
Claire gasped, the familiar stench of gunpowder, cordite, and aftershave instantly flooding her senses. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs. For a horrifying second, she was nineteen again, crouched behind a bullet-riddled limousine beside Adrian’s father. Then she was twenty-five, tied to a metal chair in an icy cellar.
""Get off me!"" she gasped, trying to shove against his broad shoulders.
""Stay down!"" Adrian commanded, his voice tight, fierce, and unyielding. ""They have elevated positions on the ridge!""
A second volley ripped through the patio. Wood splinters flew like shrapnel. A sharp groan escaped Adrian’s lips, his body jerking violently above hers. A warm, thick liquid dripped onto Claire's cheek.
She froze. She reached up with a trembling hand, touching the side of his ribs beneath his coat. Her fingers came away slick, crimson, and hot.
""Adrian..."" she whispered, her eyes widening in horror. ""You're hit.""
Adrian clenched his jaw, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his gaze remained locked on hers, fierce and completely lucid. ""It's nothing. Just a graze. Keep your head down.""
Distant gunfire erupted from the surrounding trees as Moretti’s concealed snipers returned fire. The heavy thud of suppressed rounds echoed across the bluff, followed by the screech of tires down the winding highway as the ambush team broke into a desperate retreat.
Marco and two operatives sprinted onto the terrace, their weapons drawn, sweeping the perimeter.
""Ridge is clear! Two shooters down, one vehicle fleeing south!"" Marco yelled, skidding to his knees beside Adrian. ""Boss, you’re bleeding out through the side. We need to get you inside right now.""
Adrian pushed himself up slowly, refusing Marco’s hand, his eyes never leaving Claire’s face. He was pale, his breath rattling in his chest, the dark wool of his coat soaked in deep crimson. ""Are you hurt, Claire? Look at me. Did they hit you?""
Claire sat on the slate floor, her hands shaking, covered in his blood. She looked at the man who had abandoned her, who had shattered her soul and walked away to save another woman. Yet here he was, bleeding out on a coastal patio, having used his own body as a human shield without a second's hesitation.
""Why did you do that?"" she asked, her voice trembling with a mixture of rage, grief, and confusion. ""Why didn't you duck?""
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Adrian coughed, clutching his bleeding side, a weak, sorrowful smile touching his pale lips. ""Because this time... nobody comes before you. Not even me.""
His eyes rolled back, and the ruthless boss of the Moretti empire collapsed onto the stone floor.
