Chapter 11 - Dominic Shatters His Own Iron Rule And Trades His Entire Syndicate Just To Save My Life
We burst onto the rain-swept rooftop helipad of the Monte Carlo Casino just as the twin rotors of a private Sikorsky helicopter began spinning into a deafening roar.
Director Hayes was scrambling toward the open cabin door, clutching the heavy titanium briefcase containing the unencrypted BioVance patents and the global syndicate blacklist.
"Hayes!" I shouted over the gale-force rotor wash, raising my weapon with both hands.
Hayes stopped at the helicopter steps, turned around, and pulled a high-caliber magnum from his coat, aiming it directly at my face.
"You should have died in that hospice with your father, Vance!" Hayes screamed, his face twisted with frantic desperation. "You were nothing but a file clerk!"
Before Hayes could squeeze the trigger, Dominic Pierce stepped directly in front of me, shielding my entire body with his own.
BANG.
The heavy magnum round struck Dominic in the right shoulder. The impact forced him back a step, but the iron-willed kingpin refused to fall. He let out a primal, guttural roar, lunged forward across the slick wet helipad, and tackled Hayes to the concrete with bone-shattering force.
The gun clattered across the wet roof, skidding off the edge into the Mediterranean Sea below.
Dominic pinned Hayes to the ground with his left hand, his face covered in rain and blood, pressing the cold steel barrel of his .45 directly between Hayes’s eyes.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't blow your miserable brains across this tarmac," Dominic growled, the raw fury in his voice shaking the very air around us.
"If you kill me, the CIA black-ops division will hunt you to the ends of the earth!" Hayes sputtered, blood leaking from his split lip. "They will seize every ship, every port, every dollar Pierce Maritime owns! You’ll lose your entire empire!"
Dominic leaned down, his eyes burning with an unholy, terrifying calm.
"You can have the empire," Dominic whispered into the traitor's ear. "I don't need ships to rule this world. I only need her."
Dominic struck Hayes across the jaw with the heavy steel frame of his pistol, knocking the corrupt director out cold.
I ran to Dominic’s side, dropping to my knees on the wet concrete, tearing off the hem of my silk gown to wrap tightly around his bleeding shoulder.
"Dominic! You took a bullet for me!" I cried, my hands shaking as I applied pressure to the wound.
Dominic reached up with his uninjured hand, cupping the back of my neck, pulling my forehead down against his. Despite the pain, despite the blood and the freezing rain, a brilliant, triumphant smile lit up his face.
"I’d take a thousand bullets for you, Elena Vance," Dominic whispered, pressing a tender, fierce kiss to my lips. "We won."
Behind us, Victor, Natalia, and a dozen international federal agents who had been secretly cooperating with Victor’s legitimate logistics network swarmed onto the rooftop, securing Hayes in heavy steel handcuffs and taking possession of the BioVance briefcase.
May you like
Natalia walked over, looking down at us with immense respect in her green eyes.
"The war is over, Elena," Natalia said softly in English. "Your father’s name has been cleared across every intelligence database in Europe and Washington. You are free."
Related Stories
