Chapter 6 - The Blood on the Linen
The rain over West Town was coming down in thick, blinding sheets when Adrien’s convoy of four black armored SUVs screeched to a halt at the corner of 18th Street.
Sweet Beginnings Bakery was dark. The neon 'Open' sign was smashed, its red glass shattered across the wet sidewalk.
In front of the shop stood three black sedans. Eight men armed with automatic submachine guns were surrounding the entrance, preparing to blow the heavy steel rear lock with thermal charges.
Adrien didn't wait for his convoy to set up a perimeter.
He kicked his SUV door open while the vehicle was still moving at twenty miles an hour, hit the rain-slicked asphalt in a low roll, and came up firing.
Pfft-pfft-pfft-pfft!
The suppressed fire from Adrien’s twin pistols tore through the night air. Two Falcone gunmen fell instantly before they could even turn their heads, their blood mixing with the rainwater pouring into the gutter.
"It’s Moretti!" someone screamed through the dark. "Kill him!"
The alley erupted into chaotic, violent gunfire. Automatic rounds chewed into the brick walls, shattering glass, sending sparks showering down like dying stars.
Adrien moved with terrifying, feral grace. He used a heavy steel dumpster as cover, reloading his magazines in less than two seconds, coming out from the left side to drive three rounds through a gunman’s chest, then spinning to cut down another who tried to flank him from the fire escape.
Danté and twenty Moretti enforcers poured into the alley behind him, creating a wall of lethal steel that crushed the Falcone strike team within sixty seconds.
When the last gun fell silent, the alley smelled of cordite, wet copper, and burnt rubber.
Adrien didn't check for survivors. He kicked the shattered rear door of the bakery open and burst inside.
"Elena!" he bellowed, his gun held low, his eyes sweeping the dark, flour-scented kitchen.
"Adrien!"
Elena emerged from the storage closet, holding a heavy steel rolling pin like a club, her face pale as a sheet. When she saw him—soaked in rain, covered in soot, holding two smoking guns—she didn't shrink away this time.
She dropped the rolling pin and ran straight into his arms.
Adrien caught her against his chest, dropping his weapons onto a flour sack, wrapping his massive arms around her, crushing her against his heartbeat. She was shaking violently, her tears soaking through his wet wool coat.
"They were outside..." she sobbed into his neck. "They said they were going to burn the building with us inside..."
"They will never touch you," Adrien growled into her hair, his hand cradling the back of her head with fierce, unyielding devotion. "I swear it on my life, Elena. They are done."
From the open storage room door, three small heads popped out.
Lily, Sophie, and Emma rushed out, throwing their arms around Adrien’s legs, burying their faces in his trousers.
Adrien dropped to both knees on the flour-dusted floor, pulling all three girls into his embrace, holding them against his chest alongside their mother.
Elena looked down at him through her tears, seeing the ruthless mob Don holding her daughters as if they were the most precious, fragile glass in the universe. She saw the blood on his coat, but she also saw the absolute, terrifying truth: this man would burn the entire world to ashes just to keep her children safe.
"Adrien," Elena whispered, kneeling down beside him, placing her hand over his scarred cheek. "What do we do now?"
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Adrien looked into her hazel eyes.
"Tonight, I end this," Adrien said quietly. "Once and for all."
