Chapter 13 - The Cornered Wolf Strikes Back
Peace in the underworld, however, is rarely handed over without one final desperate gasp from dying wolves.
Three days before Thanksgiving, as the city prepared for the holidays, a rogue faction of Moretti loyalists led by Marco’s younger cousin, Enzo Moretti, attempted a suicide ambush.
Emma was visiting the renovation site of Lily’s Hearth on the northwest side when two black sedans screeching around the corner blocked off the street.
Four armed gunmen burst out, firing into the air to scatter the construction workers, attempting to snatch Emma as leverage to negotiate Marco’s release from federal custody.
"Get the girl!" Enzo screamed, raising a shotgun.
Emma dove behind the concrete counter, her heart racing, but she didn't panic. She immediately pressed the panic trigger inside the gold signet ring Adrian had given her.
Before Enzo could jump the counter, the rear glass wall of the diner shattered inward.
An armored tactical SUV smashed through the alley doors.
Adrian Voss was the first out of the vehicle.
He moved with devastating, surgical precision. Armed only with a tactical baton and a sidearm, Adrian disarmed the first gunman with a sweeping strike to the knee, dropped the second with a precise non-lethal shot to the shoulder, and ducked beneath Enzo’s shotgun blast.
In three fluid steps, Adrian closed the distance, grabbed Enzo’s weapon, twisted the man’s arm until the bone popped, and slammed him face-first onto the stainless steel prep table.
Within forty-five seconds, all four attackers were neutralized on the floor.
Adrian dropped the shotgun. He turned and scanned the room frantically until his eyes found Emma crouched behind the counter.
His face was pale with raw terror—the only time Emma had ever seen the great don look genuinely afraid.
He ran to her, pulling her up and checking her arms, her face, her hands for any sign of injury.
Emma threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. "I'm okay! I'm completely fine!" she signed rapidly against his chest.
Adrian held her so tightly that her feet barely touched the ground. He buried his face in her hair, his entire powerful frame trembling with relief.
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He signed against her cheek:
I will never let anyone hurt you. Never.
