Chapter 7 - The Ambush at Dock 14
Rain poured over the concrete piers of Dock 14 like a waterfall.
Marco Marino crouched behind a steel shipping container, his breath coming in hot, ragged gasps. Blood dripped from a cut on his forehead, running down his sharp jawline onto his dark shirt.
His pistol was empty. He had one magazine left.
Ten yards away, Dominic Moretti walked slowly across the wet asphalt, holding a heavy shotgun, surrounded by six armed men.
"It's over, Marco!" Moretti roared over the sound of the thunder. "Your father took my territory twenty years ago! Now I take your docks, your money, and your sweet little cafe girl!"
Marco gritted his teeth, his hand tightening around his gun.
He wasn't afraid of dying. He was a Marino; he had lived with death sitting on his shoulder his whole life. But the thought of Moretti touching Bella—touching his mother—ignited a terrifying inferno inside his chest.
"You won't touch her, Dominic," Marco growled under his breath.
"Finish him!" Moretti ordered his men.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Suddenly, automatic rifle fire erupted from the dark shadows behind the north crane!
Three of Moretti’s men dropped to the ground instantly.
Matteo and four tactical guards burst out of the underground drainage hatch, flanking Moretti’s squad with brutal, military precision!
"WHAT THE—?!" Moretti shrieked, ducking behind a crate as bullets tore through the metal around him.
Marco didn't waste a single second. He racked his slide, stepped out from behind his container, and advanced through the smoke like a dark storm.
He caught Moretti’s remaining lieutenant with a swift bullet to the chest, tackled Moretti to the wet ground, and slammed his heavy combat boot down onto Moretti’s shotgun, snapping the stock in half.
Moretti lay on his back in the freezing rain, gasping for air, looking up into the deadly muzzle of Marco’s gun.
"How... how did your men get behind us?!" Moretti choked out, blood leaking from his nose. "The canal gate was sealed!"
Matteo stepped out of the shadows, wiping rain from his tactical goggles, a dark grin on his face.
"The gate was opened by Miss Bella Marino," Matteo reported cleanly. "She sends her regards."
Marco froze. A look of pure, breathtaking wonder washed over his blood-stained face.
He looked up at the stormy sky, letting out a dark, proud laugh that echoed over the dark waves of Lake Michigan.
"Bella..." Marco whispered.
He turned his cold gaze back down to Moretti.
May you like
"It's over, Dominic," Marco said softly.
He pulled the trigger.
