Chapter 7 - The Shadow of the Moretti
The news of the debt liquidation and the canceled engagement sent massive shockwaves through the criminal underworld over the next forty-eight hours. The Moretti family, sensing that Dante Romano was distracted by internal chaos and vulnerable without Senator Vane's political protection, decided to strike.
It was a cold, foggy Tuesday midnight when the alarms inside the Romano estate triggered.
Dante was inside his underground study reviewing security logs when the red tactical lights began flashing across the ceiling. Marco slammed the door open, drawing his heavy suppressed pistol.
"Dante! We have a breach on the west perimeter!" Marco shouted over the low wail of the sirens. "Moretti sent three squads of armed mercenaries. They bypassed the main gate using a delivery truck and are pushing hard toward the west wing!"
Dante stood up instantly, his face turning into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. "The west wing?"
"They’re targeting the servant quarters," Marco reported grimly. "They know Mara Bellini was the reason you broke the alliance. They want to grab her and the child to use as leverage against you!"
Dante pulled a custom matte-black pistol from his desk drawer, racking the slide with a sharp, lethal click. "Deploy squads three and four to the front gates. Tell them to kill everyone who doesn't wear a Romano crest. I am going to the west wing myself."
"Dante, wait for backup!" Marco called out, but Dante was already sprinting down the dark stone corridor, his eyes blazing with a terrifying, predatory fire.
Inside the west wing apartment, Mara had pulled Lucia out of bed the second the sirens began to blare. She locked the heavy reinforced oak door and pulled the large wardrobe across the doorway, shielding her crying daughter behind her back near the inner bathroom.
"Mommy, what's that noise?" Lucia cried, clutching her cloth rabbit tightly to her chest.
"It's okay, baby, it's just a drill," Mara lied frantically, holding a heavy metal lamp in her shaking hands as footsteps echoed down the main hallway outside.
BOOM.
The wooden door shuddered violently as a heavy boot struck it from the outside.
"Open the door, lady!" a rough, raspy voice shouted from the corridor. "Boss Moretti wants to have a friendly conversation with Dante Romano's new favorite maid!"
BOOM.
The door hinges groaned under the force of a second kick. Mara backed away into the bathroom, placing Lucia behind the heavy porcelain tub. "Stay here, Lucia! Don't come out no matter what!"
CRACK.
The wooden door split open down the middle, and the heavy wardrobe was violently shoved aside. A tall, heavily armed mercenary wearing tactical gear stepped through the broken doorway, an assault rifle raised in his hands.
"Found you," the mercenary sneered, stepping into the yellow light of the apartment.
Before he could raise his weapon toward Mara, a black shadow materialized behind him in the shattered doorway.
A massive hand reached out, grabbed the mercenary by the throat, and violently slammed his head against the solid stone doorframe with sickening force. The man crumpled to the floor instantly, unconscious or dead.
Dante Romano stepped over the fallen body into the room, holding his silenced pistol in a low grip. His shirt was stained with rain and dust, his dark hair messy, and his grey eyes burning with an intense, wild rage that made Mara gasp.
"Dante!" she cried out.
Dante scanned the room instantly, his eyes softening the moment he confirmed Mara and Lucia were unhurt. "Are you injured?" he asked, his voice rough and breathless.
"No... no, we are fine!" Mara stammered.
"Good," Dante said, stepping back toward the doorway. He turned his head into the dark hallway, where gunfire echoed in the distance. "Marco! Clear the rest of this floor! Leave none of them alive!"
Dante re-entered the room, shut the broken door as best he could, and walked over to Mara. Without asking for permission, he pulled her into his arms, wrapping his large, powerful frame around her fragile body.
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Mara froze for a microsecond before burying her face into his broad chest, her entire body shaking as she held onto his shirt with all her strength. Dante closed his eyes, resting his chin on top of her soft dark hair, breathing in the scent of lavender and rain.
"I won't let them touch you, Mara," Dante whispered savagely into her hair. "I will burn this entire city to the ground before I let anyone lay a finger on you or your child."
