Chapter 13 - Hell on Earth: When the Don Burns Down the Underworld to Bring Her Home
“Did you really think I wouldn't place a military-grade GPS micro-transmitter inside the diamond pendant around her neck?” Antonio’s voice echoed through the phone.
Before Moretti could scream an order, the warehouse’s skylights exploded in a cascade of shattered glass.
Tactical flashbangs detonated with ear-shattering concussions, turning the warehouse into a blinding storm of white light and thunder. Armed Russo commandos rappelled down from the rafters with surgical precision, taking out Moretti’s mercenaries in a matter of seconds.
The heavy steel doors of the warehouse were blown off their hinges with high-impact breaching charges.
Through the smoke and fire walked Antonio Russo.
He was dressed in a black tactical coat, a customized assault rifle in his hands. His chest was still wrapped in bandages beneath his vest, but his movement was unstoppable. He looked like an archangel of vengeance rising from the underworld.
Moretti panicked, pulling a revolver and lunging toward me to use me as a human shield.
Using my nursing knowledge of pressure points and the slack in my ropes, I kicked out with all my might, driving the heel of my boot directly into Moretti’s kneecap with a sickening CRACK.
Moretti screamed in agony, collapsing to the floor and dropping his gun.
Antonio closed the distance in two strides. He kicked the gun away, grabbed Moretti by the throat with one massive hand, and lifted the fifty-eight-year-old mob boss off the ground, slamming him against the concrete pillar.
“Antonio, no!” I shouted, shaking off the loosened ropes. “Don't kill him in cold blood! If you kill him, the FBI will take you away from Maria and me! Let the law bury him!”
Antonio’s chest heaved with fury, his fingers digging into Moretti’s throat as the rival boss turned purple, gasping for air. Antonio looked at Moretti with pure hatred... then slowly turned his eyes toward me.
Seeing the plea in my eyes, the rage in Antonio’s face slowly melted into humanity.
He threw Moretti onto the wet floor like a piece of trash.
“Federal agents and the State Police are outside, Salvatore,” Antonio said coldly, adjusting his coat. “Luca has delivered your financial ledgers, your offshore accounts, and the video evidence of all your assassinations to the United States Attorney. You will spend the rest of your pathetic life in a federal supermax prison in Colorado.”
Antonio turned his back on his defeated enemy and rushed toward me.
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He dropped to his knees, his trembling hands severing the remaining ropes with a tactical knife. The moment I was free, I threw my arms around his neck, burying my face in his chest.
“You’re safe, Sophie. You’re safe,” Antonio whispered frantically, holding me so tightly against him that I could barely breathe, his lips kissing my hair, my forehead, and my tears. “I have you. I will never let you go.”
