Chapter 8 - The Fall of Lombardi
On the monitor, Meline watched in breathless suspense.
Lorenzo shoved a massive mahogany bookcase aside, revealing the old plaster wall behind it. He didn't hesitate. Raising a high-caliber assault rifle he had taken from a fallen attacker, he emptied an entire magazine directly through the plaster wall at chest height.
The heavy bullets tore through the drywall, catching the four mercenaries completely unprepared from behind. Through the security camera in the hallway, Meline saw smoke, dust, and sparks explode as the men dropped to the floor.
The scarred commander, hit in the leg, stumbled backward, frantically trying to detonate the charge manually.
Lorenzo kicked through the destroyed plaster wall, stepping into the dust-filled hallway like a vengeful shadow. Before the scarred commander could touch the detonator, Lorenzo stepped on his wrist, crushing the bone under his heavy boot.
The scarred man screamed in agony.
Lorenzo lowered his weapon, aiming it directly between the commander's eyes. "Who gave you the access codes to my security gates?" Lorenzo demanded, his voice chillingly calm.
The scarred man spat blood onto Lorenzo’s boot, trembling violently. "Hector... Hector Lombardi... he paid your head of guard two million... he’s waiting at the harbor... on his yacht... expecting us to bring the girl..."
Lorenzo stared down at him for a long, quiet second. "Thank you for the information."
Crack.
The hallway fell completely silent.
Meline leaned against the safe room console, letting out a long, shaky breath as she watched Lorenzo turn toward the camera lens. He looked disheveled, covered in dust and blood, but completely unhurt. He held up a hand toward the camera.
"Mario," Lorenzo’s voice came through the speaker. "Bring Meline upstairs. We are going to the harbor."
Ten minutes later, Meline walked back into the grand foyer. The mansion was severely damaged, but Lorenzo’s loyal reinforcements had arrived, securing the perimeter and cleaning the halls.
When Lorenzo saw Meline walk out of the basement elevator, he dropped his weapon and closed the distance between them in a flash. He pulled her into his arms, squeezing her so tightly she could barely breathe, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
"You are safe," he rasped, his voice trembling with an emotion he had never shown to anyone in his life. "Thank God... you are safe."
"I told you I wasn't just going to sit there," Meline whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I ruined my dress, though."
Lorenzo pulled back, looking at the torn, soot-stained navy velvet gown, then up at her face, which was smudged with gunpowder. A radiant, breathless smile broke across his blood-stained face.
May you like
"You look," Lorenzo said softly, "like the most dangerous, beautiful queen this city has ever seen."
He turned to Mario, who had his shoulder bandaged by a medic. "Prepare the fleet. Hector Lombardi thinks he is sailing back to New York tonight. Let us go show him why people don't start fires in Boston."
