Chapter 4 - Blood on the MahoganyAlexander didn't flinch. He didn't even pull his hand back from Nina's face. He simply turned his cold, lethal gaze toward the doctor.
"Castellano," Alexander said smoothly. "Fifteen years of loyalty, bought out by Moretti for what? A few million?"
"Ten million, actually," Castellano corrected with a cold smirk. "And full control of the pharmaceutical distribution on the East Coast. You were getting soft, Alexander. Helping old cooks, sparing weak enemies. You became a liability to the business."
"And you brought three gunmen into my home," Alexander replied, his voice deadly quiet. "You forgot one detail."
"Oh? And what’s that?"
"Marcus."
Suddenly, the floorboards beneath the gunmen exploded. Fire and gunfire shattered the silence of the mansion. Marcus and four hidden Romano guards charged from the adjoining dressing room, weapons blazing.
The bedroom erupted into chaos. Gunfire roared, shattering the glass chandeliers and tearing through the heavy velvet drapes. Nina screamed as Alexander grabbed her by the arm, shoving her down behind the massive, solid-oak footboard of his four-poster bed.
"Stay down!" Alexander barked.
Castellano fired frantically toward the bed, wood splinters flying into the air. Marcus ducked behind an armchair, returning fire and dropping one of the tactical guards instantly with a shot to the head.
Nina huddled on the floor, her hands over her ears, the smell of gunpowder filling her lungs. Through the dust and deafening reports, she saw Castellano flanking around the side of the bed, his gun aimed directly at Alexander's chest. Alexander was still weak from the poison; he was trying to reach for his own gun under the pillow, but he wasn't fast enough.
"Die, Romano!" Castellano roared.
Without thinking, driven by pure instinct, Nina grabbed a heavy brass floor lamp beside her and swung it with all her strength.
CRACK!
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The base of the brass lamp collided square with Castellano's wrist. The doctor shrieked in pain as his pistol flew across the polished hardwood floor, sliding under the bed.
Castellano spun toward Nina, his face twisted in rage. "You little bitch!" He lunged, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her back against the bedframe.
