Chapter 8 - Ambush on the Hudson Bridge
"Maya!" Lena’s scream tore through the private underground tunnel of the museum as they sprinted toward the armored convoy.
"She is safe for now," Matteo said, slamming his hand against the car door. "I stationed eight of my best men in the penthouse. But Carmine is throwing every mercenary he has left at that building. We need to get there now!"
They piled into the reinforced Maybach, flanked by two black SUVs. The convoy tore onto the West Side Highway, sirens blaring and tires screaming against the wet asphalt.
Lena clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white, tears of pure terror streaming down her face. "If anything happens to her, Matteo... she is all I have left of Clara! She’s just a baby!"
Matteo pulled Lena against his side, wrapping his powerful arm around her shoulders in an unyielding embrace. "Nothing will happen to her, Lena. I swear on my life. My men will die before they let Carmine touch that child."
As the convoy approached the Hudson River overpass, the lead SUV suddenly exploded in a blinding fireball.
A rocket-propelled grenade had struck the front engine. The burning wreckage flipped into the air, crashing across the highway and blocking all three lanes.
"Ambush!" Gianni roared from the front seat, slamming on the brakes as the Maybach skidded sideways, tires smoking.
From the shadows of the elevated rail bridge, half a dozen black pickup trucks surrounded the convoy. Over twenty heavily armed mercenaries in tactical gear poured out, opening fire with automatic rifles.
Bullets hammered against the Maybach’s bulletproof glass like heavy hail, spiderwebbing the reinforced windshield but failing to pierce it.
"Stay down!" Matteo roared, shoving Lena onto the floorboard beneath his legs and shielding her body with his own.
He drew two custom Berettas from under his tuxedo jacket, kicked the Maybach door open, and engaged the attackers with ruthless, terrifying efficiency.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Matteo fired with surgical precision. Every shot found its mark. Three mercenaries dropped to the pavement within seconds. The Duca security detail returned fire from the rear SUV, turning the highway into an absolute warzone of smoke, fire, and thunder.
Suddenly, a sniper on the upper bridge fired a high-caliber round that punched through the Maybach's rear tire, disabling the vehicle. A second mercenary rushed toward the exposed side of the car, leveling a shotgun directly at Matteo’s blind spot.
"Matteo, look out!" Lena screamed.
Without thinking, Lena grabbed a heavy steel flashlight from the door pocket, lunged out from under the seat, and hurled it with all her strength directly into the mercenary's face.
The heavy steel struck the gunman's nose with a sickening crunch, knocking his aim off just as he pulled the trigger. The blast shredded the empty air above Matteo’s head.
Matteo spun around instantly, firing two rounds into the attacker's chest, ending the threat.
He grabbed Lena’s arm, his eyes wide with ferocious shock. "Are you out of your mind? You could have been killed!"
"He was going to shoot you!" she yelled back through the smoke, her chest heaving. "I'm not sitting here watching you die!"
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A dark, fierce pride flashed across Matteo’s face. "Gianni! Clear the secondary route! We’re taking the tactical truck!"
With the mercenary ambush broken and sirens echoing in the distance from converging police units, Matteo bundled Lena into the remaining SUV and sped into the night toward the penthouse.
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