Chapter 3 - Fire on Pier 42
The rain turned into a vicious torrential storm as a fleet of ten blacked-out SUVs tore through the industrial wasteland of the Brooklyn waterfront.
Pier 42 jutted out into the freezing, murky waters of the East River like a rusted iron finger. Giant shipping containers were stacked thirty feet high, creating a labyrinth of metal shadows and blind corners.
I stepped out of the lead SUV, wearing a tactical vest over my dark suit, a heavy automatic shotgun slung across my chest. Fifty of my best soldiers fanned out behind me, silenced rifles raised, moving like shadows through the storm.
“No chatter on the comms,” I ordered through my earpiece. “If you see a French mercenary, drop him. But if anyone puts a scratch on the little girl, I will skin you alive myself.”
We pushed deep into the container yard. The smell of salt, diesel, and rust hung thick in the air.
Suddenly, floodlights snapped on from the tops of the shipping containers, blinding us in a harsh, brilliant white glare.
“WELCOME, DOMINIC!”
Julian Moretti’s voice boomed over a loudspeaker system, echoing off the metal walls.
“I expected you an hour ago! You’ve gotten slow in your old age!”
“MORETTI!” I roared, stepping into the center of the open courtyard, the rain drenching my hair. “Show yourself! Face me like a man, not a coward hiding behind shipping crates!”
High above, on a narrow metal catwalk suspended between two massive blue containers, a door swung open.
Julian walked out into the rain, holding an umbrella in one hand and a remote detonator in the other. Beside him stood two heavy mercenaries.
And strapped to a metal chair in the center of the catwalk was Bella.
Her mouth was covered with black tape, her small eyes wide with absolute terror, tears streaming down her pale cheeks as the rain soaked her thin clothes.
My heart felt like it was being ripped out with hot pliers.
“BELLA!” I screamed, taking a step forward.
“AH-AH-AH!” Julian warned, lifting the remote detonator. “One more step, Don Valenti, and the C4 packed underneath this catwalk will blow your precious little bastard into a thousand pieces.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. My soldiers aimed their weapons upward, but no one dared to pull a trigger.
“She’s an innocent child, Julian!” I yelled, my voice raw with desperation. “This is between you and me! Let her go, and I will give you the shipping lanes! I will sign over the docks tonight!”
Julian laughed—a dry, cruel sound that was swallowed by the thunder above.
“You think I just want shipping lanes?” Julian sneered. “You destroyed Elena, Dominic! You broke her spirit, threw her away like trash, and let your mother torment her! I gave her a life! But she never loved me. For four long years, every time I touched her, every time I held her, she was thinking of you! She looked at this child every single day and saw your face!”
His jaw clenched, his eyes turning insane with jealousy.
“If I cannot have her heart, and if I cannot own your bloodline, then I will erase both of you from the earth!” Julian shouted. “The Valenti line ends tonight!”
Suddenly, a gunshot echoed through the storm.
BANG!
Julian’s arm jerked violently as a high-caliber bullet shattered his shoulder. He screamed, dropping the umbrella and the detonator.
The detonator bounced off the metal catwalk, tumbling down toward the ground!
“GET THE DETONATOR!” I yelled, sprinting forward.
On the catwalk, a shadow stepped out from behind the containers. It was Elena. She was holding a heavy chrome revolver, her eyes blazing with a mother’s murderous rage. She had snuck up the rear stairs while Julian was distracted!
“RUN, DOMINIC! SAVE OUR DAUGHTER!” Elena screamed, firing two more shots into the mercenaries guarding Bella.
Chaos erupted.
Julian’s mercenaries on the surrounding containers opened fire on my men. Tracers lit up the night sky like dying stars. Metal sparked, glass shattered, and screaming men fell into the black river below.
“MARCO! COVER ME!” I roared.
I dove through the rain, snatching the falling detonator out of the air just before it hit the concrete. I rolled across the wet pavement, pulled my sidearm, and began sprinting up the rusted spiral staircase leading to the catwalk.
Bullets whipped past my ears, tearing through the fabric of my jacket. I fired upward, dropping two mercenaries who blocked the stairs, my boots hammering against the steel steps.
I reached the top.
Julian was on his knees, bleeding heavily from his shoulder, reaching for a dropped pistol with his good hand.
I didn't hesitate. I kicked him in the face with all my weight.
His nose shattered, and he flew backward, hitting the metal guardrail with a sickening crunch. I stepped on his chest, pinning him to the deck, and pressed the barrel of my gun directly against his forehead.
“You touched my family,” I growled, my finger tightening on the trigger.
“Dominic, wait!” Elena screamed from the other side of the platform.
I looked over. Elena was desperately untying Bella from the chair. But as she pulled the tape off Bella’s mouth, the little girl pointed frantically at the metal box attached to the underside of her seat.
A red digital timer was counting down.
00:15... 00:14... 00:13...
It wasn't a manual detonation. Julian had set a fail-safe timer the moment the floodlights turned on!
“IT’S A DEAD-MAN SWITCH!” Julian choked out, spitting blood, laughing maniacally beneath my boot. “YOU CAN’T STOP IT! WE ALL DIE TOGETHER!”
Chapter 3.5: The Blood Oath (Extended Scene)
The red numbers burned into my retina.
00:10... 00:09...
There was no time to disarm it. No time to think.
I lifted my boot off Julian’s chest, grabbed him by the collar, and threw his body over the railing into the churning dark waters forty feet below. I didn't care if the fall killed him—I had seconds left.
“ELENA! JUMP!” I screamed, sprinting toward them.
Elena grabbed Bella, hugging the tiny girl tightly against her chest. “Dominic! I can’t!”
00:05... 00:04...
I reached them just as the timer hit two seconds. I didn't ask for permission. I wrapped my massive arms around both Elena and Bella, shielding their bodies with my own armored torso, and drove us all over the railing, hurling our bodies into the black abyss of the East River.
BOOM!
The night sky exploded into a roaring inferno.
A wave of heat, shockwaves, and flying shrapnel hit my back as the catwalk disintegrated in mid-air. The blast hurled us through the freezing air like ragdolls.
We hit the icy water with devastating force.
The cold shock slammed into my lungs, knocking the wind out of me. Darkness enveloped us. The river was a chaotic vortex of burning debris falling from above and freezing currents pulling us down.
I pushed through the agony in my ribs, kicking wildly toward the surface. My hands searched frantically through the black water until I caught the strap of Elena’s dress. I pulled with everything I had, dragging her and Bella up toward the air.
We broke the surface, gasping for oxygen.
“I HAVE HER! I HAVE BELLA!” Elena choked out, coughing up river water, holding the screaming toddler above the waves.
Marco’s tactical speedboat slammed through the water toward us, its searchlight cutting through the smoke and rain.
“GET THEM UP!” Marco yelled, throwing a rescue net over the side.
Five strong hands grabbed us, hauling our drenched, shivering bodies onto the deck of the boat. I collapsed onto the floorboards, coughing violently, my chest burning with agony.
Bella was weeping, clinging to Elena’s soaked cashmere dress.
Slowly, on my knees, I crawled across the wet deck toward them. Elena looked at me, her face pale, her lips blue from the cold, but her eyes held something I hadn't seen in five long years.
Forgiveness? No. But truth.
I reached out my scarred, trembling hand. Bella looked at me through her tears. She didn't pull away this time. She reached out her tiny hand and touched my wet cheek with her small fingers.
“Daddy?” she whispered.
The word shattered every remaining piece of the cold, unfeeling mob boss I had built over thirty-five years. Tears mixed with rain fell down my face.
“Yes, piccola,” I sobbed, pulling both of them into my arms, burying my face in Bella’s wet hair. “I’m here. Daddy’s here. And no one will ever hurt you again.”
Elena didn't push me away. She rested her forehead against my shoulder, shivering as the boat tore away from the burning wreckage of Pier 42.
“It’s not over, Dominic,” Elena whispered into my ear, her voice trembling with a fresh, terrifying realization. “Julian didn't act alone. He had help from inside your family. Your mother... she isn't at the mansion.”
I pulled back, my eyes narrowing into slits of pure ice. “What do you mean?”
“Donna Valentina knew we were meeting at Serafina tonight,” Elena said, her eyes wide with fear. “She made a deal with Julian to eliminate you, put Bella on that ship, and take over the Valenti empire herself. She’s at the Alpine estate right now, clearing out your vault.”
The final piece of the nightmare fell into place.
The serpent wasn't at the docks. The serpent had been sitting on my throne all along.
May you like
I stood up on the rocking boat, pulling my secondary pistol from my waterproof holster, racking a round into the chamber with a lethal, metallic clack.
“Marco,” I said, my voice echoing like death over the roar of the boat engine. “Set a course for Alpine. It’s time for a family reunion.”
