Chapter 3 - The Siege of North Harbor
"Get down!" Aaron roared, throwing his massive frame across Claire and the base of Lily’s bed as a second volley of bullets ripped through the drywall, shattering the medical equipment above them.
Lily woke up screaming, her hands flying to her ears as the alarms on her damaged monitors began to wail in high-pitched terror. "Mom! Mom, what's happening?!"
"I've got you, baby! I've got you!" Claire scrambled over the glass-covered floor, throwing her body over Lily, shielding her daughter with her own flesh.
Dominic didn't duck. He stood in the center of the room, drawing a customized matte-black pistol from his shoulder holster with a terrifying, icy calm. His eyes were pure fire.
"Aaron! Status!" Dominic commanded over the din of the gunfire.
"It's the Moretti crew!" Aaron shouted, firing two precise shots out into the hallway through the shattered doorway. A man in a tactical vest groaned and crumpled to the floor outside. "They brought at least a dozen men, Dominic! They know Julian is incapacitated and you're pinned down!"
"They think they can corner me here," Dominic growled. He stepped toward the bed, his tall frame completely blocking the door from any incoming stray bullets. He looked down at Lily, who was staring up at him through wide, terrified brown eyes—eyes that perfectly matched his own.
"Who... who are you?" Lily sobbed, clutching her mother’s coat.
Dominic looked at her, his expression softening for a fraction of a second into something profoundly human, before hardening back into granite. "I'm the man who is going to get you out of here alive, sweetheart."
He looked at Claire. "We have to move her. Now. The service elevator at the end of the hall leads to the secure laundry loading dock. My secondary team is waiting there."
"She just had surgery!" Claire screamed over another explosion of plaster from the wall. "Moving her could kill her!"
"Staying here will kill her!" Dominic countered. He looked down at Lily. "Trust me, Lily. Can you do that?"
Lily, terrified but seeing the absolute certainty in the strange man’s eyes, gave a small, shaky nod.
Dominic didn't hesitate. He safely disconnected the IV lines, then reached down and lifted Lily into his arms with immense care, ensuring he didn't put pressure on her stitched abdomen. He held her close against his chest, shielding her body entirely with his own armored overcoat.
"Claire, stay behind me. Aaron, clear the point!"
They burst into the hallway. The corridor was a warzone. Two of Dominic’s guards lay dead near the elevators, but three others were fiercely returning fire against a group of heavily armed men advancing from the main stairwell.
"Vale!" one of the attackers shouted, raising a rifle.
Dominic didn't even blink. He raised his pistol with his free right hand, holding his daughter securely with his left arm, and fired three times in rapid succession. The attacker fell instantly.
"Move!" Dominic ordered.
They ran down the back service corridor. Lily buried her face into the crook of Dominic’s neck, crying softly. She could hear the heavy, steady thudding of his heart—a heart that beat with the exact same rhythm as her own. She smelled the scent of expensive cologne, rain, and gunpowder. Strangely, despite the chaos, she felt an overwhelming sense of absolute safety in the arms of this dangerous stranger.
They reached the service elevator. Aaron jammed his security key into the panel, and the doors slid open. They scrambled inside just as a fresh wave of gunfire chipped the concrete wall behind them.
As the elevator descended, Claire collapsed against the metal wall, catching her breath. She looked at Dominic, who was whispering softly to Lily, stroking her dark hair with a tenderness she never thought the most feared man in Chicago was capable of possessing.
"You're safe, little bird," Dominic murmured to the girl. "I've got you."
The elevator doors chimed and opened into the basement loading dock. Three heavily armored black SUVs stood waiting, their engines roaring.
But as the rear doors opened, Aaron froze, his phone pressed to his ear. He looked back at Dominic, his face pale.
"Dominic... we have a problem. The Morettis didn't just attack the hospital. They hit our main counting houses, our docks, and our primary residence. They've launched a full-scale coup across the entire city. And the FBI just issued a federal warrant for your arrest based on a leaked ledger." Aaron swallowed hard. "Every safehouse we own is compromised. We have nowhere to take them."
Dominic’s eyes narrowed into slits. The trap had been perfectly laid. His enemies had waited for him to be vulnerable, and the authorities were moving in to finish the job.
May you like
He looked at Claire, then at his daughter.
"Then we don't go to a safehouse," Dominic said, his voice filled with a dangerous resolve. "We go to the one place nobody expects. We're going to war."
