Chapter 6 - A Viper in the Library
The air inside the library suddenly felt thin and suffocating. Norah backed away slowly, clutching the payroll printout behind her back, her shoulder blades pressing against the edge of the mahogany desk. Dominic Bell was a former military contractor with two inches and eighty pounds on Adrian, a man known throughout the syndicate for his brutal efficiency in silencing dissent.
""Mr. Bell,"" Norah said, keeping her tone carefully flat and submissive. ""Mr. Moretti asked me to reorganize his tax folders.""
Dominic scoffed, his gaze dropping to the high-security ledger open on the desk. ""Mr. Moretti doesn't let anyone touch those folders, especially not a five-foot-nothing cleaning girl. And Mr. Moretti is currently downstairs dealing with three very angry capos who want to know why the biggest wedding in Chicago just got torched.""
Dominic drew his weapon—a suppressed automatic pistol—with fluid, terrifying ease. ""You were spotted leaving your apartment building this morning with two men in an armored convoy. We checked the street cameras. Matteo didn't die in that fire, did he?""
Norah’s breath hitched, but she refused to drop her eyes. ""He’s alive, Dominic. And he knows exactly who paid you to disable the tracking beacons on his car that night.""
Dominic's smile vanished, replaced by a cold, dead stare. ""Then neither of you is going to see tomorrow morning. Isabella told me that if anything went wrong with the wedding plans, I had to clean up the loose ends immediately. Starting with the smart girl who doesn't know how to look away.""
He raised the barrel directly toward her forehead. Norah braced herself, her fingers digging into the edge of the desk, preparing to throw the heavy bronze desk lamp at his head in a futile bid for survival.
A sharp, deafening sound shattered the room—not from Dominic’s gun, but from the library's adjoining private office.
A single bullet smashed through the ornamental plaster molding, striking Dominic squarely in the right shoulder. The impact spun him around, his weapon clattering across the hardwood floor. Before he could recover, Adrian Moretti burst through the adjoining door, his eyes blazing with murderous fury.
Adrian did not hesitate. He crossed the distance in two predatory strides, driving his knee into Dominic’s wounded shoulder and pinning the larger man against the floor. He pressed the hot muzzle of his gun against Dominic’s temple, his voice dropping into a guttural growl that rattled the glass in the windows.
""You took twenty years of my trust and sold it for half a million dollars to a woman who isn't fit to sweep my floors,"" Adrian snarled.
Dominic spat blood onto the floor, laughing weakly through his pain. ""You're too late, Adrian. You think Isabella is waiting for tomorrow? The moment you canceled the wedding, she knew the game was up. Her crews are already moving on your warehouse docks at Calumet Harbor. By midnight, your entire distribution network will be burning.""
Adrian didn't blink. He pulled the trigger, ending Dominic’s laughter instantly.
Norah gasped, pressing a hand to her mouth, the sudden violence shocking her to her core. Adrian stood up, holstered his weapon, and turned toward her. His expression softened in an instant, his breathing heavy as he reached out and gently gripped her arm, checking her for injuries.
""Are you hurt?"" he asked, his voice unexpectedly gentle.
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""No,"" Norah whispered, trembling slightly as she looked down at the dead traitor on the floor. ""Adrian... what he said about Calumet Harbor. That’s where Matteo’s private reserve units are stationed.""
Adrian’s jaw set into stone. ""Then we don't wait for them to attack. We take the fight to them.""
