Chapter 7
Smoke and drywall dust billowed into the office as two armed men in tactical vests came charging through the wreckage, automatic weapons raised.
They didn't even have time to acquire targets.
Titan didn't bark this time. He moved like a dark missile across the room, launching himself directly at the lead gunman. His jaws clamped onto the man’s forearm with bone-crushing force, sending the assault rifle clattering uselessly against the tiled floor as the intruder shrieked in agony.
The second gunman swung his weapon toward Titan, screaming obscenities, but before he could pull the trigger, Belvin stepped out from the shadows.
Crack!
A single, suppressed gunshot echoed sharply in the small room. The second intruder dropped instantly, a clean entry wound through his tactical vest, crumpling into a heap beside the server racks.
"Clear!" Belvin shouted over the ringing in the air, his gun held steady.
More boots echoed down the hallway. Voices yelled out in panicked Italian and English. "Push through! The boss wants the girl alive, but drop anyone else!"
"They're bringing reinforcements," Naomi said, her heart hammering against her ribs like a sledgehammer, adrenaline pumping liquid fire through her veins. She gripped the heavy steel wrench tighter, crouching slightly in the defensive posture she had learned from old security manuals. "There are at least a dozen more in the main kitchen corridor."
Belvin reloaded his sidearm with practiced, mechanical precision, his eyes never leaving the smoking doorway. "Then we don't wait for them to come to us."
He looked at Naomi, then down at Titan, who was standing over the disarmed, trembling intruder with a low, menacing growl.
"Naomi," Belvin said, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp command. "You know the layout of Corso better than anyone here. Where is the secondary service elevator?"
"Behind the walk-in freezer in the main kitchen," she answered instantly, her veterinary focus seamlessly pivoting into tactical survival mode. "It drops straight down to the underground delivery bays on 4th Street. But Castellano’s men will have the stairwells covered."
"We aren't taking the stairs," Belvin said grimly, walking over to his desk and pressing a hidden toggle beneath the kneehole.
A heavy steel panel in the back of the bookshelf slid open with a deep, hydraulic hiss, revealing a dark, concrete subterranean tunnel illuminated by emergency red backup lights.
"The old Prohibition escape route," Belvin murmured, gesturing for her to enter first. "My grandfather built it. It leads right out to a safehouse two blocks away."
Naomi looked from the dark tunnel to Belvin, then back down at Titan, who trotted over and pressed his warm, brindle shoulder against her leg, urging her forward. The realization hit her with staggering force: the man she had believed was her family’s greatest enemy was now her only shield against a violent death.
"If we make it out of this," Naomi said, her voice steady despite the chaos, "you’re going to tell me everything about what happened to my father."
May you like
"Every word," Belvin promised, raising his Glock as more shouts echoed down the hallway outside. "Now move."
They slipped into the dark tunnel just as a hail of bullets shredded the remaining drywall in the office, the heavy steel door slamming shut behind them with a resounding, final clank.
