Chapter 8 - THE LAST STAND
Pier 14 was a inferno of towering flames and heavy smoke. The air smelled of burning salt, diesel, and copper. Fire raged through the shipping containers, casting violent orange shadows across the concrete docks.
Dominic’s men struck with surgical, overwhelming force, wiping out Castiglione’s mercenaries section by section. Dominic moved through the smoke like a phantom, his heavy-caliber pistol taking down anyone in his path, with Victor clearing his flanks.
Emma moved right behind him, her practical instincts and sharp senses warning them of an ambush from the upper catwalks. When a hidden sniper aimed at Dominic’s back from a crane platform, Emma fired three precise shots without missing a beat, dropping the shooter into the icy harbor below.
Dominic turned, catching her waist, his eyes dark with raw pride amidst the chaos.
Deep inside the main shipping office, surrounded by burning ledgers and shattered glass, they finally cornered Don Castiglione. The old boss was bleeding from a shrapnel wound, holding a detonator wired to the main fuel tanks underneath the pier.
"It’s over, Castiglione," Dominic said, stepping through the smoke, his weapon leveled at the old man's chest.
"If I go down, Volkov, I take your whole empire with me!" Castiglione cackled madly, his thumb hovering over the red button. "You destroyed my family for a common waitress!"
Before Castiglione could press the trigger, Emma stepped out from behind Dominic. Her movement distracted the old man for a fraction of a second—his eyes widening in disbelief that she was standing on the front lines.
THUD.
A single shot rang out.
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It wasn't Dominic who pulled the trigger. It was Emma. Her bullet struck Castiglione’s hand, severing his thumb and sending the detonator flying across the metal floor into the water below.
Dominic closed the distance instantly, delivering a final, decisive strike that ended the Castiglione threat forever. As the remaining enemy forces surrendered across the docks, the empire of dark crime that had terrorized the city for decades crumbled into absolute silence.
