Chapter 9 - Blood on the Riverfront: Bellarose’s Warning Shot
Before Fontaine’s Bakery could rise from the ashes, Conrad Bellarose played his last desperate card.
At 2:00 AM on a foggy Tuesday, two black SUVs pulled up outside the Orsini distribution warehouse at Pier 9. Four masked men armed with automatic shotguns stepped out, throwing incendiary bottles through the office windows before spraying the loading dock with gunfire.
The warehouse exploded into a ball of orange fire.
Nell woke to the sound of screaming sirens and the frantic slamming of doors in the Orsini mansion. She threw on a robe and ran down to the grand foyer just as Benny Santino burst through the main entrance, his shoulder soaked in blood.
"Benny!" Nell cried, rushing to his side.
"I'm fine... just a graze," Benny grunted, clutching his arm as Odette rushed in with a first-aid kit. "They hit Pier 9. Bellarose hired some freelance muscle out of Houston. They knew Carmine was supposed to be doing the inventory inspection tonight."
Nell’s heart dropped into her stomach. "Where is Carmine?!"
"He wasn't there," Benny said, wincing as Odette applied antiseptic to his wound. "He took a detour to Royal Street to check on the bakery renovations. When the radio call came in, he headed straight for the docks."
Nell didn't wait for permission. Ignoring Odette’s shouts, she grabbed a heavy coat from the hall rack, ran out into the courtyard, and jumped into the passenger seat of the estate’s secondary security car just as Carmine’s driver was pulling out.
"Take me to Pier 9!" she commanded.
When they arrived at the riverfront, the scene was chaotic. Fire engines were pumping river water onto the smoking remnants of Warehouse 9. Carmine stood in the center of the rain-slicked asphalt, surrounded by a dozen armed men. He was drenched in rain, his face illuminated by the flashing red lights of the emergency vehicles.
Nell pushed past the security perimeter, her heart pounding violently in her chest.
"Carmine!"
Carmine turned sharply. When he saw her running toward him through the rain, his expression shifted from cold fury to sheer shock. He met her halfway, catching her by the shoulders with iron strength.
"What are you doing here?!" he roared over the sound of the diesel engines and crackling embers. "It's not safe!"
"I thought you were in the building!" Nell shouted back, tears mixing with the rain on her cheeks. "I thought he killed you!"
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Carmine stared at her, seeing the terror and raw vulnerability in her eyes. Without warning, he pulled her tightly against his chest, wrapping his coat around her shivering frame.
"I'm here," he murmured against her wet hair, his voice steadying her racing heart. "I'm not going anywhere. But Bellarose just made the biggest mistake of his life."
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