Chapter 10 - Blood and Iron
The heavy lantern struck the gunman squarely across the bridge of his nose, sending him crashing to the marble floor with a bloody howl of agony.
“Run, Sofia! RUN!” Emily screamed!
Sofia bolted toward the glass terrace doors with incredible speed, slamming her fists against the glass and screaming: “DADDY! DADDY, HELP!”
The second gunman lunged forward, grabbing Emily violently by the hair, throwing her onto the concrete floor. “You stupid bitch!” he snarled, raising the butt of his weapon to strike her across the temple.
Before the blow could land, the glass doors exploded inward in a shower of crystal shards.
Luca Moretti charged through the smoke and glass like a raging demon.
In a fraction of a second, Luca caught the gunman’s wrist, twisting the bone until it snapped with a sickening *pop*. Without breaking stride, Luca drove a brutal knee into the man’s ribs, slamming him violently against the stone railing. The man went limp and collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Marco and four armed Moretti enforcers rushed in behind Luca, guns drawn, securing the perimeter within seconds.
Luca dropped to his knees beside Emily, his hands trembling as he helped her up. Blood trickled from a small cut on her shoulder where a glass shard had grazed her.
“Emily! Are you hurt? Look at me!” Luca gasped, his voice ragged with terror.
“I’m fine... Sofia is safe,” Emily breathed, collapsing into his arms.
Luca pulled her tightly against his chest, burying his face in her hair. “I have you,” he whispered fiercely. “I have you both.”
He picked Emily up in his arms and scooped Sofia up with his other side, carrying them back into the ballroom.
The high-society music had died. The entire room stood in stunned silence as Luca walked past the shocked guests. When he reached the center of the hall, he stopped directly in front of Lorenzo Corsetti and Vanessa Bellini.
May you like
Luca’s eyes burned with cold, merciless fury.
“You crossed the final line, Lorenzo,” Luca declared, his voice echoing off the high ceilings so that every mob boss in the city could hear. “You targeted my family. As of this midnight, the Corsetti syndicate ceases to exist.”
