Chapter 9 - THE OLD STEEL MILL
The abandoned steel mill loomed against the dark Chicago skyline like a rusted skeleton.
I arrived in a taxi, paying the driver with the last twenty dollars in my pocket. I slipped through a broken chain-link fence, my black work shoes crunching softly against the gravel.
I knew the mill. My father used to work here before it closed. He had showed me the underground maintenance access hatches when I was a little girl.
I found the heavy iron grate hidden beneath a pile of rotted wood. I pulled it open with all my strength and climbed down the rusty ladder into the damp dark.
Above me, I could hear voices echoing through the cavernous main warehouse.
I crept along the catwalk beneath the grated floor. Through the metal slits, I could see the main floor.
Luca stood perfectly still in the center of the room.
Surrounding him on the upper walkways were five men with automatic rifles.
Standing ten feet in front of Luca was a tall, older man with a silver cane. He was holding the stolen diamond necklace in his gloved hand.
“Where is Vanessa?” the older man asked, his voice echoing.
“She’s safe,” Luca said calmly. “You won’t touch her, Marcus.”
Marcus. Vanessa’s uncle. The man who had taken over the family after her father went to prison.
“She’s a fool,” Marcus scoffed, pocketing the necklace. “She thought she was getting revenge for her father. She didn’t realize I was the one who sold him out to you ten years ago.”
My breath caught. Marcus had betrayed his own brother.
“I knew,” Luca said. “That’s why I took her in. I was trying to protect her from you.”
“How noble,” Marcus sneered. “But you’re still going to die here. And tomorrow, I will take the children.”
“The children are under my protection,” Luca growled.
Marcus raised his hand, signaling the gunmen. “Fire.”
I didn’t think. I reacted.
I grabbed the heavy maintenance wrench hanging on the wall next to me and smashed it directly into the massive electrical breaker box beside my head.
Sparks showered everywhere.
With a loud groan, every single light in the steel mill blew out.
The warehouse plunged into pitch-black darkness.
The gunmen fired blindly in panic, their muzzle flashes illuminating the dark. But Luca was already moving. He was a shadow, lethal and silent.
I heard a scream, then a heavy thud as one gunman fell. Then another.
I scrambled down the tunnel, terrified of catching a stray bullet. I climbed back up the ladder to the outside just as the gunfire stopped.
The heavy metal side door of the mill kicked open.
Luca walked out into the moonlight. His suit was torn, but he was holding the diamond necklace in his hand.
He saw me standing by the fence, shivering.
He stopped. His dark eyes widened in shock.
“Emily?” he breathed, walking toward me. “What did you do?”
“I... I blew the breaker,” I stammered.
Luca stared at me. The ruthless mafia boss, the man who feared nothing, looked completely undone by the fact that a twenty-five-year-old maid had just saved his life.
He took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around my freezing shoulders.
“You’re crazy,” he whispered, a faint smile touching his lips.
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“I told you it was a trap,” I mumbled.
He reached out and gently touched my cheek. “Let’s go home, Emily.”
