Chapter 5 - The Ambush at the Docks
Frank Moretti’s body slumped onto the boardroom table without a word. The remaining syndicate bosses held their breath, their hands raised in the air, terrified that Adrian’s wrath would consume the entire room.
“Take them to the holding cells,” Adrian ordered Luca, gesturing toward Marcus Vance and the other bosses. “Strip their phones. Lock down every dock from Gary to Milwaukee. We move now.”
Within twenty minutes, the boardroom was cleared. Adrian stood by the window, the cold Chicago rain lashing against the glass. His hands were clean, but his breathing was shallow. The shock of Frank’s betrayal—a man who had been a second father to him—had cut deeper than any poison.
Emma stood near the doorway, trembling, her chef’s coat stained with a single drop of stray blood from Marcus’s shattered hand. “Mr. Vale... I should go back to the motel. This isn't my world.”
Adrian turned around. He crossed the room in three long strides, stopping right in front of her. Without warning, he reached out, his large hands cupping her flushed, tear-stained cheeks.
“You’re not going anywhere, Emma,” he whispered, his thumbs gently wiping away the moisture under her eyes. “Frank didn't work alone. He had mercenary crews stationed at the rail yards. The moment word gets out that the coup failed, they will burn every address associated with this building. You’re the reason I’m alive. If they find you, they will use you to break me.”
“Adrian—”
“Trust me,” he said, his voice raw with an intensity that took her breath away. “Stay with me tonight. By sunrise, Chicago will belong to me completely. Then, if you want to walk away, I’ll buy you an island where nobody can ever touch you.”
Before Emma could respond, alarms blared through the building. The elevator control panel by the door turned bright red.
“Power cut to forty-two!” Luca shouted over the comms radio. “Adrian! Mercenary team breached the basement loading dock! They’ve got heavy weaponry—they’re bypassing the lobby through the service elevator shafts!”
“Evacuate through the helipad,” Adrian commanded into his lapel mic. He grabbed Emma’s wrist, his grip unyielding, and pulled her toward the private stairwell that led up to the roof.
They climbed two flights of concrete stairs in the dim, flashing emergency lights. Gunfire crackled from the floors below—sharp, rhythmic bursts of automatic rifles echoing up the stairwell. Emma struggled to keep pace, her lungs burning, but Adrian never let go of her hand, pulling her along with an iron strength.
They burst out onto the roof. The wind hit them like a physical blow, howling off Lake Michigan, driving freezing rain into their faces. A sleek twin-engine helicopter sat on the pad, its rotors slowly beginning to spin.
Suddenly, the roof access door behind them blew outward in a storm of concrete dust and shrapnel.
Three men in black tactical gear emerged, assault rifles raised. The lead mercenary opened fire.
Adrian reacted instantly. He threw his entire body over Emma, slamming her down onto the wet tarmac of the helipad, shielding her torso and head with his own frame. Bullets pinged off the metal deck around them. Adrian grunted—a sharp, muffled sound of agony—as a high-caliber round clipped his shoulder.
“Adrian!” Emma screamed against the howling wind.
Rolling onto his back, Adrian drew his secondary weapon from his ankle holster. With terrifying precision, he fired three rapid shots into the lead gunman’s chest plate, dropping him instantly. Luca and two loyal enforcers burst through the stairwell behind the mercenaries, cutting down the remaining two attackers in a hail of crossfire.
Luca ran over, sliding on his knees across the wet roof. “Boss! You’re hit!”
“Get her into the bird!” Adrian snarled, clutching his bleeding shoulder as he struggled to his feet.
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Emma didn't run to the helicopter. She grabbed Adrian’s good arm, looping it around her neck, using her sturdy hips and legs to leverage his massive weight. “Shut up and lean on me!” she yelled over the roar of the rotor blades.
Adrian looked down at her through the driving rain. Despite the agony tearing through his shoulder, a fierce, incredulous pride lit up his dark eyes. Together, fighting the gale-force wind, Emma dragged the most feared mafia boss in Chicago into the safety of the helicopter cabin just as the skids lifted off into the storm.
