Chapter 10 - THE DON'S RECKONING
The warehouse erupted into pure, unadulterated warfare.
Dominic moved like a phantom through the smoke. His tailored shirt was torn and stained with ash and blood from the penthouse explosion, but his movements were terrifyingly fast and lethal. Before Vincenzo’s mercenaries could recover from the flashbangs, Dominic fired with surgical precision, dropping four gunmen in four consecutive seconds.
"Kill him! Kill him now!" Vincenzo screamed, stumbling backward toward the harbor loading dock in sheer panic.
Julian panicked, spinning around to use me as a human shield. But I didn't give him the chance. With all the strength left in my body, I threw my weight backward, tipping the heavy wooden chair onto Julian’s shins.
Julian cursed in pain, stumbling off balance. That split second was all Dominic needed.
Dominic closed the twenty-yard gap in the blink of an eye. He grabbed Julian’s gun arm, snapping the wrist with a sickening crack that echoed above the gunfire. Julian shrieked as his gold-plated revolver clattered to the floor.
Dominic didn't stop. He drove his elbow into Julian’s ribs, lifted the two-hundred-pound enforcer by his throat, and slammed him spine-first onto the edge of a steel shipping crate. Julian collapsed into a motionless, broken heap on the concrete.
Dominic immediately dropped to his knees beside me, drawing a tactical blade from his boot. With two swift slices, he severed my ropes, catching me in his arms as I tumbled forward.
"I told you I would come back," he whispered, his voice ragged with emotion as he pressed his forehead against mine for a fleeting, desperate second.
"The kids!" I cried out.
Dominic turned and instantly sliced the ropes binding Ethan and Lily. Ethan threw his arms around his father's neck, sobbing with relief, while Lily clutched Dominic’s leg.
"Marco is right outside with the armored transport," Dominic said, his eyes scanning both children to ensure they were unharmed. "Clara, take them out the back breach now!"
Just as I took Lily and Ethan by the hand, a gunshot cracked from the edge of the pier.
Don Vincenzo stood by the open harbor door, holding a small backup pistol, his hands shaking violently as he aimed directly at Lily’s back. "If I go down... the little brat dies first!"
"No!" Dominic roared.
In a fraction of a second, Dominic threw his entire body across the space, shielding me, Lily, and Ethan with his own torso.
The bullet struck Dominic squarely in the left shoulder. The impact forced a grunt of pain from his lips, and dark crimson bloomed across his shirt, but he refused to fall.
Fueled by pure, primal protective fury, Dominic drew his sidearm with his right hand and fired twice.
The first shot hit Vincenzo’s gun hand, sending the pistol spinning into the dark waters of the Hudson. The second shot took Vincenzo in the right leg. The old man collapsed onto the wooden pier planks, screaming in agony as federal sirens and Moretti reinforcement vehicles flooded the harbor compound from every direction.
Dominic stood tall over his fallen uncle, the cold rain pouring through the shattered warehouse roof, washing the blood from his brow.
"The Moretti family is under new rule, Vincenzo," Dominic said coldly, his weapon pointed at the patriarch’s head. "And your reign ends tonight."
Federal agents and Moretti loyalists stormed the pier, securing the weapons containers and disarming the surviving mercenaries.
Dominic slowly turned back to us, his breath ragged, his hand pressed against his bleeding shoulder. His legs finally buckled, and he dropped to one knee on the wet concrete.
"Dominic!" I cried, running to his side and falling to my knees, pressing my hands against his wound to stem the bleeding. "Stay with me! Please, Dominic, stay with me!"
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Dominic looked up at me, a faint, breathtaking smile touching his lips despite the agony. He reached up with his uninjured hand, gently cupping my tear-streaked face.
"I’m not going anywhere, Clara," he murmured softly. "My family is right here."
