Chapter 7 - THE BOARDING TICKET
Marcus pointed the gun directly at my chest.
"Step away from them, Lily," he ordered, the cold air turning his breath into plumes of white smoke.
I stood in front of Anna and the baby, my heart hammering against my ribs, but I didn't move.
"You're an attorney, Marcus," I said, my voice trembling but defiant. "You deal in contracts, not murder. If you pull that trigger, you cross a line you can never come back from."
He let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "I crossed that line six months ago when I helped Vanessa kidnap the heir to the Moretti empire. Do you think I have a choice? If Vanessa doesn't get that merger signed today, the Vitiello family kills me, too."
He stepped closer, the gun unwavering.
"Now, walk out. Or I shoot you right here."
I looked desperately around the freezing container. There were no weapons. No escape routes. Just boxes of frozen meat and the biting cold.
But as Marcus stepped fully into the container, the heavy steel door behind him began to swing shut on its heavy hinges. He had left it unbalanced.
I needed a distraction. Just one second.
I looked down at his hand, the one holding Luca's emerald bracelet.
"You know," I said, my voice rising. "Vanessa promised you safety. But did she tell you where she's going after the wedding?"
Marcus frowned. "She's taking over the Moretti syndicate."
"No, she isn't," I bluffed, praying the details I’d pieced together were right. "Her family is broke. She just wants the liquid cash. Ask her about the flight to Argentina."
His eyes flickered with a split second of doubt.
That was all I needed.
I lunged forward, not at the gun, but at his arm. I grabbed his wrist with my burned hand. The agony flared so brightly it blinded me for a moment, but the pain gave me a surge of frantic adrenaline.
I twisted his arm upward. The gun fired, the bullet ricocheting off the metal ceiling with a deafening CRACK.
Using my momentum, I shoved Marcus backward with everything I had.
He stumbled on the frost-covered floor and fell backward, tumbling out of the container just as the heavy steel door swung shut.
SLAM.
The darkness returned.
I scrambled to the door in the pitch black and threw the interior safety latch, locking us inside.
"Lily!" Anna cried out in the dark.
"I'm okay! I'm okay!" I gasped, sliding down the freezing metal door, my right hand throbbing in rhythm with my racing heart.
Seconds later, Marcus began pounding on the outside of the door, screaming curses.
"You're locked in a freezer!" he yelled through the metal. "You'll be dead in an hour!"
I ignored him and pressed my earpiece.
"Daniel! Come in!"
Static. The heavy steel of the container was blocking the signal.
I crawled back to Anna in the dark, finding her by the sound of her shivering. I wrapped my arms around her and the baby, sharing whatever body heat I had left.
"We're trapped," Anna wept.
"No," I whispered, forcing myself to sound brave. "Daniel is out there. He knows where we are. We just have to hold on."
I felt around in the dark until my fingers brushed against something paper-like that had fallen from Marcus's coat pocket during our struggle.
I clicked my small flashlight back on.
It was a boarding ticket.
First Class. Chicago to Buenos Aires. Departing at 5:00 PM today.
Passenger name: Vanessa Bellini.
One ticket.
I was right. She was going to drain the accounts, abandon her family to the Vitiellos, and run. She was going to leave Luca, Michael, and her own father to die in the fallout.
One hour until the wedding.
I shined the light on the baby. The little girl was deeply asleep, but her breathing was too shallow. The cold was winning.
"Anna, keep rubbing her arms," I instructed, my own teeth chattering violently.
Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. The cold became a physical weight, pressing down on my chest, slowing my thoughts. My hands and feet went completely numb.
I closed my eyes, thinking of Leo. Thinking of Luca standing at the altar, waiting for a signal that would never come.
Suddenly, a massive, grinding sound echoed outside.
The container lurched, shaking violently.
"What's happening?" Anna screamed.
The heavy steel door didn't just unlock—it was ripped completely off its hinges by a tow cable.
Blinding daylight flooded in.
Standing in the doorway, holding a massive bolt cutter and flanked by six Moretti enforcers, was Daniel.
"Sorry I'm late," Daniel grunted, stepping inside. "Had to take out the trash."
Behind him, I saw Marcus and the two Vitiello guards unconscious on the pavement.
Daniel scooped Anna and the baby into his massive arms.
"Is everyone okay?" he asked.
"We're freezing," I gasped, stumbling to my feet. "But we're alive."
"Get them to the warm van," Daniel ordered his men.
He turned to me. "I couldn't raise you on the comms. We have to move."
I grabbed Daniel's arm, shoving the boarding ticket into his chest.
"Daniel, Vanessa is fleeing the country at five o'clock. And she has Michael at the cathedral."
Daniel looked at the ticket, his eyes widening.
May you like
"The boss doesn't know," Daniel said, checking his watch. "It's 1:45 PM. The ceremony is starting."
"Then drive," I said, my blood finally starting to pump again. "We have a wedding to crash."
