Chapter 7 - The Sacrifice In The Rain
The explosion was deafening.
It wasn’t a fiery cinematic blast, but a violent, concussive rupture of superheated metal and boiling coolant. The front SUV’s engine block fractured under the immense pressure, sending a shockwave of steam, shrapnel, and shattered glass across the driveway.
The heavy iron hood of the vehicle launched upward, twisting violently before crashing into the windshield of the second SUV.
Screams ripped through the air. Dominic’s men, caught completely off guard, scrambled backward, dropping their weapons as the scalding white steam blinded them.
“Go!” Luca yelled, rolling off me and instantly firing twice into the chaos. Two of Dominic’s guards dropped.
Marco and the estate security surged forward, laying down a wall of suppressive fire. The driveway devolved into a chaotic crossfire of muzzle flashes cutting through the thick, hissing steam.
I stayed low against the cold stone of the portico. My ears were ringing, but my eyes were locked on one thing: Maria and the boy.
They had been thrown to the ground near the rear tire of the third SUV. Maria was covering Leo with her body, shrieking in terror as bullets chipped the pavement around them.
Dominic was nowhere to be seen. He had vanished into the steam.
“Cover me!” Luca shouted over the gunfire.
He didn’t wait for Marco’s reply. Luca sprinted directly into the fray, dodging a burst of rifle fire that shattered the stone urn where he had just been standing. He moved with a terrifying, predatory grace, slipping behind the second SUV.
I couldn’t stay still. I couldn’t just watch.
I crawled along the edge of the portico, my hands scraping against the rough stone, moving toward the side garden. If I could flank the third SUV through the bushes, I could reach Maria and the boy.
The rain was coming down in sheets now, mixing with the hot steam to create a blinding, suffocating fog.
I reached the edge of the driveway and slid behind a heavy stone planter. I was ten feet from Maria.
“Maria!” I hissed over the noise. “Here!”
She looked up, her face streaked with dirt and tears. She saw me and nodded, her eyes wide with panic. She grabbed Leo, who was crying silently, his small hands clutching her coat.
Maria pushed herself up to a crouch and took a step toward me.
A heavy hand reached out from the steam and grabbed her by the hair.
Maria screamed, dropping back to her knees.
Dominic stepped out of the white fog. His expensive wool coat was torn, and his face was smeared with soot and blood from a gash on his forehead. He had a gun pressed directly to Maria’s temple.
“No one is moving,” Dominic roared, his voice cutting through the gunfire.
Instantly, the shooting stopped. The sudden silence, save for the hissing engine and the pouring rain, was heavier than the noise.
Luca stepped out from behind the second SUV. His gun was raised, aimed dead at Dominic’s chest.
“Let them go, Dominic,” Luca said. His voice was no longer a negotiation. It was an executioner’s promise. “It’s over.”
“It’s never over,” Dominic spat. He tightened his grip on Maria’s hair. “Your father thought it was over, too. And look how that ended.”
He looked down at the terrified housekeeper, then at the little boy crying at her feet.
Then, Dominic’s eyes shifted. He saw me crouching behind the planter.
He smiled.
“Well, well,” Dominic said softly. “The mechanic’s daughter. I wondered where you had scurried off to.”
My blood ran entirely cold.
Dominic shifted his gun from Maria’s head and pointed it directly at me.
“Your father owed me a debt, Emma,” Dominic said. “And he died before he paid it in full.”
“Leave her alone!” Luca shouted, taking a step forward.
“Drop the gun, Luca, or I put a bullet in the girl’s head right now,” Dominic ordered.
Luca froze. For the first time tonight, the absolute certainty in the Mafia boss’s eyes wavered. He looked at me, then back at Dominic.
“I said drop it!” Dominic cocked the hammer.
I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact.
A blur of red silk suddenly burst through the steam.
Vanessa.
She had run from the foyer, sprinting barefoot across the broken glass and gravel. She didn’t have a gun. She didn’t have a weapon.
She threw herself entirely into Dominic’s back.
The impact knocked him off balance. His arm jerked upward.
The gun fired.
The bullet shattered the stone planter inches from my face, showering me with sharp fragments.
Dominic roared in anger, violently throwing Vanessa off him. She hit the wet gravel hard.
But she had bought us the only second we needed.
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Before Dominic could level his gun again, Luca fired.
TITLE: The End Of The Debt
