Chapter 7 - The Betrayal at the Harbor
Three days later, the quiet peace of the estate was shattered once again.
Luca had received an urgent tip regarding a Falcone shipment arriving at Pier 42—a shipment that allegedly contained heavy weaponry intended for a full-scale assault on the Moretti compound. Leaving forty of his best men to guard the estate under the command of his loyal lieutenant, Marco, Luca took a convoy to the docks to intercept the threat.
It was a trap.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, while Luca was clearing an empty warehouse three miles away, a convoy of five black armored SUVs rammed through the secondary gates of the estate.
Don Falcone himself—a ruthless, elderly mobster with a face like pitted granite—stepped out onto the cobblestone courtyard, surrounded by twenty heavily armed mercenaries carrying assault rifles.
"Clear the house!" Falcone barked to his men. "Find the girl! Bring her and the notebook to me!"
Inside the mansion, Marco and six loyal guards took up defensive positions in the foyer, exchange heavy gunfire with the intruders.
Grace was in the kitchen, preparing fresh meat for the pack, when the sound of shattering glass and heavy automatic fire echoed through the halls.
"Grace!" Marco yelled over the radio comms. "They've breached the south hall! Get to the safe room!"
"Where are the dogs?" Grace demanded, grabbing her father's journal and shoving it into her leather satchel.
"They're locked in the central courtyard! Don't go out there!"
Grace didn't listen. She sprinted down the service corridor toward the courtyard doors. Through the reinforced glass, she saw Falcone’s mercenaries throwing tear gas canisters into the dog runs, attempting to neutralize the pack.
Titan, Zeus, and the four other hounds were coughing, blinded by the chemical smoke, backing into the corner of the stone yard.
May you like
"No!" Grace screamed.
She grabbed a heavy fire extinguisher from the wall, pulled the pin, and kicked open the steel service door, stepping directly into the gas-filled courtyard.
