Chapter 8 - The Price of Love
Victor retreated behind two of his heavily armed henchmen, holding up a small black detonator with a glowing red LED light.
""Step forward, Dominic! Hands where I can see them!"" Victor screamed, his bravado shaky in the presence of the predator. ""On your knees!""
Dominic didn't look at Victor. His eyes swept across the shadowy warehouse until they landed on me, tied to the pillar. The moment our gazes locked, the murderous rage in his expression melted into profound relief, followed instantly by devastating anguish.
""Did they hurt you, Lily?"" he asked, his voice shaking with raw emotion.
""Dominic, it's a trap!"" I screamed, straining against my bonds. ""The warehouse is rigged with C4! Run! Please, just run!""
""Shut up!"" Victor snarled, signaling one of his men. The guard raised the butt of his rifle to strike me.
""IF YOU TOUCH HER, I WILL BURN YOUR ENTIRE BLOODLINE TO ASH!"" Dominic roared. The sheer sonic fury of his voice shook the rusted girders above us.
The guard froze, terrified to carry out the order.
Dominic slowly raised his hands and took three deliberate steps forward, stopping in the center of the kill zone beneath the hanging halogen lamps.
""You want my empire, Victor?"" Dominic said, his voice dropping into a lethal, low cadence. ""I brought the transfer deeds. Fully signed. All maritime shipping licenses, the Manhattan holdings, the offshore accounts. Everything is in the car outside. Take it all. Let her walk.""
Victor’s eyes widened with greedy disbelief. ""You... you would surrender the Vale syndicate? For a common diner waitress?""
""She is not a waitress,"" Dominic said, his eyes fixed on mine with an intensity that took my breath away. ""She is my life. Now cut her loose.""
""A touching speech, Dominic,"" Victor cackled, his finger hovering over the detonator's red button. ""Truly inspiring. But dead men don't file paperwork, and dead kings can't reclaim their crowns. Kill him!""
The guards raised their automatic rifles.
In that split second, a deafening shot rang out—not from Victor's men, but from the high skylight above. The guard to Victor's left crumpled to the floor.
Before Victor could press the detonator, Dominic moved.
He didn't draw a gun; he launched himself directly at Victor. One of the guards fired, a bullet grazing Dominic's left shoulder, but Dominic didn't even flinch. He slammed into Victor with bone-shattering force, sending the detonator skittering across the oil-slicked concrete.
Above, the glass skylights shattered in an explosion of rain and steel as Marcus Reed and a tactical team of Vale enforcers rappelled down into the warehouse with suppressed assault rifles. Gunfire erupted in sharp, deafening bursts.
Dominic pinned Victor to the ground, his hands wrapped tightly around the older man's throat.
""I told you,"" Dominic whispered into Victor’s terrified face, his eyes gleaming with absolute vengeance, ""what would happen if you ever stepped near my family.""
A sickening crunch echoed across the concrete. Victor Moretti went limp.
The remaining mercenaries threw their weapons down, surrendering to Marcus’s tactical unit.
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Gunsmoke hung heavy in the damp air. Dominic stood up slowly, ignoring the blood dripping from his wounded shoulder. He didn't look at Marcus. He didn't look at the dead bodies.
He sprinted toward me.
