Chapter 11 - THE SIEGE IN THE DARK
“Boss! They breached the south wall! There’s too many of them!”
The radio went to dead static.
Gunfire echoed from the front lawn, sharp and rapid in the freezing night.
Luca locked the heavy library doors.
“Emma, get them to the panic room,” Luca said, his voice entirely devoid of fear, replaced only by a cold, protective rage.
“I’m not leaving you!” I whispered fiercely.
“The panic room is behind the bookcase. Go!”
Lily woke up, crying in the dark.
I scooped her up in my arms and ran toward my father’s wheelchair.
I pushed the secret latch behind the leather-bound encyclopedias. The bookcase swung open silently, revealing a reinforced steel door.
I wheeled my dad inside and set Lily on his lap.
“Stay quiet, sweetie. Emma will be right back,” I promised.
I closed the steel door, locking them safely inside.
But I didn’t go in with them.
I grabbed the heavy iron fire poker from the hearth and stood beside Luca.
He looked at me, exasperated but deeply moved. “You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met.”
“You asked me to marry you,” I reminded him, gripping the iron rod tightly. “In sickness, health, and mafia shootouts.”
A loud crash echoed from the foyer.
They had broken through the front doors.
Heavy boots pounded against the hardwood floors.
“Search the rooms!” a gruff voice yelled. It was Rossi. “Find the kid! Bring me the girl!”
Luca positioned himself behind the mahogany desk, pulling me down beside him.
Footsteps stopped right outside the library doors.
The handle jiggled. Locked.
“Stand back!” a voice yelled on the other side.
BOOM.
A shotgun blast blew the locks right off the heavy oak doors. They swung open, splintered and smoking.
Three men stepped into the dimly lit room, their tactical flashlights cutting through the darkness.
“Check the corners,” Rossi ordered, stepping in behind them.
Luca didn’t wait for them to find us.
He popped up from behind the desk and fired twice.
Two men dropped instantly.
Rossi and the third man dove for cover behind the leather sofas, returning fire. Bullets shredded the books and shattered the lamps around us.
“Give us the girl, Moretti!” Rossi shouted over the gunfire. “And we walk away!”
“You’re not walking away, Rossi!” Luca yelled back. “You’re dying in my house!”
I crouched lower, my heart hammering in my ears.
Suddenly, I heard a faint scraping sound behind me.
I turned my head.
A fourth man had climbed through the side window in the dark. He was creeping up behind Luca, a knife drawn.
Luca was entirely focused on Rossi and the man pinned down in front of him.
“Luca!” I screamed.
I didn’t think. I swung the iron fire poker as hard as I could.
It connected with the man’s kneecap with a sickening crunch. He screamed, dropping the knife and falling forward.
Luca spun around and knocked the man out cold with the butt of his gun.
But the distraction was enough.
Rossi surged over the sofa, tackling Luca to the ground.
The gun skittered across the carpet into the shadows.
Rossi was massive, fueled by desperate rage. He pinned Luca down, wrapping his thick hands around Luca’s throat.
“I’m going to kill you, and then I’m taking the brat!” Rossi spat.
Luca choked, fighting violently to break the grip, but the other remaining man was moving toward me, aiming his pistol.
I was out of options.
Suddenly, a figure stepped out from the shadows near the library doors.
It was Marco.
He was bleeding from a graze on his shoulder, but he held his shotgun steady.
He didn’t say a word.
He fired.
The man aiming at me was thrown backward through the doorway.
Rossi froze, realizing he was the last one left.
He let go of Luca and raised his hands, panting heavily.
“Okay, okay,” Rossi surrendered, backing away.
Luca stood up, gasping for air, rubbing his bruised throat.
He picked up his gun from the floor.
He looked at Rossi, then at the destruction of his home.
“Marco,” Luca rasped.
“Yeah, Boss.”
“Tie him up. Leave him on the front porch for the police.”
Rossi cursed as Marco dragged him out.
The house finally went silent, save for the wailing of police sirens in the distance.
Luca turned to me.
He dropped the gun, fell to his knees in the ruined library, and pulled me into an embrace that felt like life itself.
“Are you okay?” he whispered against my neck.
“I’m okay,” I cried, holding onto his broad shoulders.
We pulled away and opened the panic room door.
Lily was crying, burying her face in my father’s coat.
My dad looked up at me, tears in his eyes, incredibly relieved.
Luca knelt in front of the little girl.
“They’re gone, Lily,” Luca promised softly. “The bad men are gone. They are never coming back.”
Lily looked up, her blue eyes wide. “Did my daddy come back?”
The question broke my heart.
Before Luca could answer, a paramedic rushed into the library, followed by two police officers.
“Mr. Moretti? Is the child here?” the officer asked.
“She’s here,” Luca said protectively.
“We found a man near the docks,” the officer said gently. “David Mercer. He took two bullets to the shoulder, but he’s alive. He’s in surgery at St. Jude’s right now.”
Lily gasped. “Daddy!”
I let out a sob of pure relief.
May you like
Luca smiled, picking Lily up and resting her on his hip.
“Come on,” Luca said, wrapping his free arm around my waist. “Let’s go see your dad.”
