Chapter 7 - Fire and Iron
"Alyssa! Look at me!" Hope yelled, grabbing a fallen knife from a dead guard’s belt and slicing through the ropes around her sister’s wrists.
Alyssa pulled the tape from her mouth, sobbing uncontrollably. "Hope! What is happening?! Who are these people?!"
"Keep your head down and run to the car!" Hope ordered, shoving her toward the SUV. "Mateo is inside! Go!"
Alyssa scrambled toward the vehicle just as two Morello guards turned their weapons toward her.
Hope didn't think. She grabbed a heavy iron pipe from the floor and lunged.
She slammed the pipe into the knee of the first guard, sending him down with a sickening crack, then swept his legs and took his pistol in a fluid, practiced motion. She fired twice, striking the second guard in the chest before he could raise his rifle.
The combat medic was gone. The soldier had taken her place.
Across the warehouse, Luca was locked in a brutal hand-to-hand fight with Dominic Morello.
Dominic, heavy and desperate, gouged at Luca’s eyes, but Luca caught his wrist, twisted it back until the bone snapped, and slammed the older man face-first into a steel beam.
Dominic collapsed, coughing blood, his hands raised in surrender. "Luca... wait! Wait! We can share the drive! We can split the money!"
Luca stood over him, breathing heavily, his dark coat soaked in rain and blood. He looked down at the man who had threatened the woman who had held his dying brother.
"My brother died for honor," Luca said, his voice cold as arctic ice. "You don't even know what the word means."
Luca raised his pistol.
BANG.
Silence returned to Pier 42.
The remaining Morello guards had either fled into the night or lay dead on the floor. Tactical snipers descended from the rafters, securing the exits and clearing the bodies with terrifying efficiency.
Luca lowered his gun, his chest heaving. He turned slowly, searching the dark warehouse.
Hope was kneeling near the SUV, holding her sobbing sister close, whispering soft, comforting words while checking Alyssa’s pulse and neck for injuries. She was gentle, fierce, and entirely unbroken.
Luca walked toward them, wiping a smudge of grease from his jaw.
Hope looked up as his heavy boots stopped in front of her. She stood up slowly, her hands still trembling from the adrenaline rush.
"Is she hurt?" Luca asked gently.
"Minor bruising," Hope said, her voice hoarse. "She’ll be okay."
Alyssa looked up at Luca, terrified, then at her sister. "Hope... who is he?"
May you like
Hope looked into Luca’s dark, fierce, yet unbelievably gentle eyes.
"He’s the man who saved us," Hope whispered.
