Chapter 8 - The Price of Loyalty
The confrontation inside the sugar refinery was a trap within a trap. June stood ground, her finger twitching near the trigger inside her coat pocket, while Marco slowly shifted his weight to shield her from the perimeter guards.
"Daniel," June said, her voice dripping with a profound disgust that made the older man flinch. "You really are a coward. You couldn't even stay a prisoner for a week before you sold your soul again."
"They were going to kill us, Harper!" Daniel screamed, his face contorting with rage. "Your real father was going to put us in the ground! Silvio offered us a way out! A million dollars and a ticket to Costa Rica! All we had to do was tell him where you were!"
"She brought herself right to me, Daniel," Silvio laughed, gesturing to his men. "Take the drive from her. And kill the guard."
Before the soldiers could move, the heavy glass skylights above the refinery exploded inward in a shower of lethal shards.
Ropes dropped from the iron rafters, and black-clad figures descended like vengeful spirits into the light. The sound of automated gunfire erupted through the massive space, the deafening roar bouncing off the brick walls as the Vale family’s elite tactical squad ambushed the ambush.
Matteo Rossi was the first through the door, his shotgun clearing the perimeter with a brutal, mechanical precision.
And behind him, walking through the smoke and the falling glass with the calm of an executioner, was Dominic Vale.
"Dad!" June shouted, dodging behind a steel support column as a stray bullet chipped the concrete near her heels.
Dominic didn't look left or right. His eyes were locked entirely on Silvio Lucchese, who was currently scrambling toward the back exit, his bodyguards falling around him like matchsticks in a windstorm.
"Silvio!" Dominic’s voice boomed through the refinery, a sound so full of primeval rage it stopped the remaining Lucchese soldiers from firing. "You took my wife twenty-four years ago! You took my daughter! You think you can leave this room alive?!"
Silvio pulled a small pocket pistol from his vest, turning to fire over his shoulder, but Dominic didn't even flinch. He raised his silver semi-automatic, firing three rapid-fire shots with the precision of a marksman.
Shot 1: Hit Silvio cleanly in the right shoulder, spinning him around.
Shot 2: Shattered his left knee, dropping him to the wet concrete.
Shot 3: Took out the weapon from his hand, leaving him disarmed and bleeding in the dirt.
The remaining Lucchese soldiers threw their weapons to the floor, their hands rising into the air as Matteo’s men surrounded them with shotguns drawn. The battle was over in less than two minutes.
Daniel Keene tried to crawl behind a stack of wooden pallets, his iron pipe forgotten, but Marco caught him by the collar, dragging him out into the center of the floor in front of Dominic.
Dominic walked over to his daughter first, his hands checking her face for scratches, his breathing ragged with a terror he hadn't felt since 2002. "Are you alright? Did he touch you? June, why did you leave the house?"
"I had to end it, Dad," June said, her hand reaching up to touch his weathered cheek. "I couldn't let them kill you for me."
Dominic closed his eyes, leaning into her touch for a brief, beautiful second before turning his attention to the two men groveling on the floor.
May you like
He looked down at Daniel Keene, then at the bleeding Silvio Lucchese.
"The commission just voted, Silvio," Dominic said, his voice dead and cold. "They found the records Matteo dug up from the Saint Gerard Hospital. They found the receipts you paid to the detective. Your own family has voted to strip you of your title. New York doesn't belong to you anymore. It belongs to the Rose."
