Chapter 6 - The Final StandTime seemed to slow down to a crawl.
I saw the muzzle flash erupt from the catwalk. I saw Alessandro turning too late, his gun jammed on a stray casing.
Without thinking, I lunged forward, grabbing a heavy iron crowbar resting against the crates. With every ounce of adrenaline and maternal fury I had left in my body, I hurled the crowbar upward like a javelin through the smoky air.
Thwack!
The heavy iron bar caught Vane squarely in the chest, knocking him off balance just as his rifle fired. The bullet shattered the concrete inches above Alessandro’s head, and Vane tumbled backward off the catwalk, crashing hard onto a pile of stacked metal pallets twenty feet below.
Silence slammed back down over the warehouse, broken only by the patter of rain leaking through the rusted roof panels.
Alessandro whirled around, his gun raised, breathing heavily. He scanned the catwalks, then looked down at the crumpled form of Marco Vane lying motionless on the floor, and finally turned his eyes toward me.
His chest heaved. He stepped over the debris, walking slowly toward me until he stood right in front of me, his hands trembling slightly—not from fear, but from shock.
“You… you just saved my life,” Alessandro breathed, disbelief coloring his deep voice.
“We’re even for the tea and the watch,” I said, trying to steady my breathing as my knees finally threatened to buckle from the crash of adrenaline.
Before I could hit the floor, strong arms caught me, pulling me tight against his chest. Alessandro buried his face in my hair, holding me with a desperation that he had never shown to anyone in his entire life.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he whispered fiercely against my ear. “Do you hear me? If you had died—”
“I didn't die,” I whispered back, resting my head against his shoulder. For the first time in two years of widowhood, poverty, and endless struggle, I felt safe.
Luca jogged up to us, kicking Vane’s motionless body to ensure he was out of the picture. “Sector secure, Boss. All Vane loyalists have surrendered or been neutralized. The empire is officially ours.”
May you like
Alessandro pulled back slowly, keeping his hands resting gently on my shoulders. His dark eyes burned with a fierce, unwavering vow.
“Let’s go home,” he said.
