Chapter 6 - A Cold Dinner for Two
Back at the Gallo estate, the atmosphere was thick with tension. Beatrice and the domestic staff had been evacuated through an underground tunnel network to a secure safehouse in New Jersey.
The grand dining room was silent save for the crackle of the fireplace.
Dominic and Nora sat opposite each other at the twenty-foot mahogany table. Between them was a spread of roast beef, vintage red wine, and two Glock 19s resting beside their silver cutlery.
Leo entered the dining room, looking like a man who had accepted his fate.
“Boss, the perimeter sensors just lit up. Arthur Vance’s strike team is moving in six blacked-out SUVs down the private access road. They’re five minutes out.”
Dominic didn’t look up from cutting his steak. “How many?”
“At least forty heavily armed mercenaries. They brought military-grade assault rifles and flashbangs.”
Dominic took a sip of his wine, then looked across the table at Nora.
“What’s your tactical assessment, Mrs. Gallo?”
Nora dabbed her lips with a silk napkin, her face calm and unbothered.
“They’ll use the front lawn as a kill zone, expecting our men to fortify the main doors. Standard breach-and-clear maneuver. If we stay inside, they’ll launch tear gas and burn the structure down around us.”
She picked up her sidearm, checked the magazine with a crisp, practiced motion, and slid it into her tactical holster.
“So we don't stay inside,” Nora said, a wicked, thrilling smile touching her lips. “We hit them in the driveway before they even step out of their vehicles.”
Dominic set down his fork, his pulse racing with a dark, primal adrenaline.
For years, Dominic had fought alone. He had carried the weight of an entire criminal empire on his shoulders, trusting no one, watching his back every second of every day.
Now, sitting across from him, was a partner who didn't need saving. A partner who looked at an incoming army of forty mercenaries and saw target practice.
Dominic stood up, racking the slide of his custom automatic shotgun.
“Leo,” Dominic barked.
May you like
“Yes, Boss?”
“Kill the power to the entire estate. Let’s show these West Side bastards what happens when they trespass on Gallo territory.”
