Chapter 12 - A Desperate Sacrifice to Shield the Man I Loathe
The abandoned grain terminal on the South Side rose like a rusted monolith against the stormy winter sky. Snow swirled around the decaying concrete towers as Dante’s lone armored SUV pulled into the desolate warehouse courtyard.
Dante and Sienna stepped out into the freezing wind.
Inside the cavernous, dimly lit warehouse, twelve heavily armed Santoro mercenaries stood on catwalks above, their rifles trained on Dante and Sienna. In the center of the concrete floor, Rocco Santoro sat on an iron crate, with Marco Moretti tied to a chair beside him.
“Right on time, Valente!” Rocco laughed, standing up and cocking his revolver. “And look at the little bride. Dressed for a funeral!”
“Let the old man go, Rocco,” Dante said, his voice echoing through the vast space. “This war is between you and me. He is a civilian.”
“Sienna?” Marco’s weak voice drifted across the room. He blinked through the gloom, his dementia clouding his understanding. “Sienna, baby, why are we in this dark place? Are we going home?”
“Dad! Yes, we’re going home soon, I promise!” Sienna cried, taking a step forward.
“Stay right there, darling!” Rocco snapped, pressing the barrel of his gun against Marco’s forehead. “Here’s how this goes, Dante. You drop your weapons, you step into the center of the ring, and you let my men put a bullet in your skull. Do that, and the girl and her father walk out the front doors alive.”
Dante didn't flinch. Slowly, deliberately, he raised his hands and unholstered his sidearms, dropping them onto the concrete floor with a hollow clatter.
“Dante, no!” Sienna screamed, grabbing his arm. “Don't do this! He won't let us live!”
“Trust me, Sienna,” Dante whispered under his breath, stepping forward into the open crosshairs.
Rocco smiled a triumphantly wicked grin. “Ten years I waited for this day. Ten years to wipe the Valente bloodline from Chicago!”
Rocco raised his weapon, aiming directly at Dante’s chest.
At that split second, Marco Moretti, recognizing the danger to his daughter’s protector, gathered all his remaining strength and threw his weight against Rocco’s legs.
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Rocco stumbled, his shot firing wide and ricocheting off a steel beam!
“Now!” Dante roared.
