Chapter 7 - THE LIEUTENANT'S BETRAYAL
The boat cut through the icy black water of the Chicago River, the roar of the engine drowning out the city noise.
Sadi sat huddled on the leather bench, clutching her aching ribs, the burner phone burning a hole in her pocket.
The leak isn't a guard. It’s Dominic.
She stared at his broad back as he stood near the helm, talking quietly with Marco. The wind whipped his dark hair, and despite the blood and soot staining his shirt, he looked completely in control.
Why would Dominic stage an attack on his own house? Why would he disarm bombs that supposedly could have killed him?
Unless he planted them. Unless this entire night was a calculated move to smoke out the ledger.
Sadi looked at Rosa, who was sitting across from her, staring blankly at the dark water. Rosa had lied about knowing Sadi’s father. What else was she lying about?
The boat slowed as they approached a massive, rusted shipping yard on the South Side. Towering cranes loomed like metal skeletons in the moonlight.
Marco guided the boat into a dark, covered slip beneath a dilapidated warehouse.
Dominic turned to Sadi, his expression softening slightly.
"We’re safe here," he said, stepping over to help her up.
Sadi hesitated. She looked at his outstretched hand, the knuckles raw and scarred.
She took it, forcing herself not to tremble.
They walked into the warehouse. It was mostly empty, save for a few stacked shipping containers and a small, glass-enclosed office suspended above the factory floor.
"Marco, secure the perimeter," Dominic ordered, guiding Sadi and Rosa toward a metal staircase leading to the office. "Nobody gets in or out without my authorization."
"Yes, Boss," Marco nodded, pulling a heavy assault rifle from a duffel bag on the boat.
Once inside the office, Dominic locked the door. He pulled the blinds down, throwing the small room into shadows, illuminated only by a single desk lamp.
"Rosa, check her bandages," Dominic said, walking over to a small safe behind the desk and spinning the dial.
Rosa approached, her hands shaking slightly.
"I’m fine," Sadi said sharply, pulling away from Rosa’s touch.
Dominic stopped spinning the dial. He looked over his shoulder.
"Sadi, don't be stubborn. You’re bleeding."
"I said I’m fine," Sadi repeated, her voice steady but cold. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the burner phone.
She tossed it onto the desk. It clattered loudly in the quiet room.
"Explain that," Sadi demanded, staring directly at Dominic.
Dominic frowned, looking at the cheap plastic phone. "What is this?"
"I found it in my pocket right before we got on the boat. Someone slipped it in while we were running through the tunnels."
Dominic picked up the phone, pressing a button to wake the screen.
He read the message.
His face went completely, terrifyingly blank.
He looked up at Sadi. "And you believe this?"
"I don't know what to believe," Sadi shot back, her adrenaline spiking again. "My father was your father’s getaway driver. Rosa lied to me about knowing him. You forced me to marry you under the threat of death. And magically, the thermite charges in the house were disarmed before they could blow."
Dominic’s jaw tightened. "I disarmed them because I pay my security team millions of dollars to install fail-safes."
"Or you disarmed them because you planted them to scare me into handing over the ledger!"
Rosa gasped. "Sadi, how dare you accuse him—"
"Quiet, Ma," Dominic snapped, his voice cracking like a whip.
He tossed the burner phone back onto the desk.
"If I wanted the ledger, Sadi," Dominic said, his voice dropping into a low, deadly calm, "I wouldn't have married you. I would have tortured you until you told me where it was, and then I would have buried you in a shallow grave. That is how my world works."
He took a slow step toward her.
"I married you to save your life. I pulled you out of a burning house to save your life. If you think I’m the leak, you are letting panic blind you."
Sadi stared into his gray eyes. He didn't look guilty. He looked profoundly, deeply insulted.
Before Sadi could reply, the heavy metal door to the office violently shuddered.
Someone was kicking it from the outside.
Dominic instantly drew his handgun, pushing Sadi and Rosa behind him.
"Marco!" Dominic shouted through the door. "Report!"
No answer.
Instead, the lock on the door sparked violently. Someone was shooting the deadbolt off.
The door kicked open.
Standing in the doorway, holding a smoking shotgun, wasn't Leo Moretti.
It was Marco.
Dominic’s trusted lieutenant aimed the shotgun directly at Dominic’s chest.
"Drop the gun, Boss," Marco said, his voice completely devoid of loyalty.
Dominic didn't flinch. He kept his weapon leveled at Marco’s head.
"Marco," Dominic said, his voice dangerously even. "You have five seconds to explain why you are aiming a weapon at me before I put a bullet between your eyes."
Marco sneered. "Leo Moretti pays better. And he promised me your territory once you’re out of the picture."
Marco stepped fully into the room, kicking the door shut behind him.
"Slide the gun across the floor, Dominic," Marco demanded. "Leo wants you alive. He wants to ask the girl about the ledger himself."
Dominic looked at Marco, calculating the angles. Marco had a shotgun; at this range, it would tear Dominic in half. But Dominic’s aim was faster.
"I don't surrender, Marco," Dominic said softly.
Marco’s finger tightened on the trigger.
But Marco hadn't noticed Rosa.
While Dominic held Marco’s attention, Rosa had quietly reached into her coat pocket.
Without a word, without a moment of hesitation, the elderly woman pulled out a sleek, pearl-handled derringer and shot Marco directly in the side of his knee.
Marco screamed, the shotgun blasting a massive hole into the ceiling as he collapsed to the floor.
Dominic stepped forward immediately, kicking the shotgun away and planting his heavy boot on Marco’s wounded leg.
Marco shrieked in agony.
"Who slipped the phone into her pocket?" Dominic demanded, pressing his boot down harder.
"I did!" Marco sobbed, clutching his shattered knee. "Leo told me to! He wanted to turn her against you so she would run!"
Dominic pulled his gun back, aiming it at Marco’s head.
"Don't kill him," Sadi blurted out, grabbing Dominic’s arm.
Dominic stopped. He looked at Sadi, the rage in his eyes slowly cooling as he felt the desperate grip of her fingers.
"We need him alive," Sadi said, her heart pounding. "He’s our ticket into Leo’s safehouse."
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Dominic lowered the gun. He looked at Marco writhing on the floor, then at Sadi.
"You’re learning fast," Dominic murmured.
