fiction
19 Seven bullets were still inside my body when Dominic Rossi married me, and I didn’t even know it was happening. While surgeons questioned whether my heart could survive another operation, New York’s most feared crime boss slipped a gold ring onto my swollen finger and told my unconscious body, “Anybody who comes for you comes through me.” / Chapter 7 / 10

Chapter 7 - The Final Gamble

The clean-up of the mansion took less than an hour. Rossi security was ruthless, efficient, and thorough. By midnight, the shattered glass had been swept, the wounded intruders secured in the subterranean holding cells, and the estate locked down tighter than a nuclear silo.

I sat propped up in the library armchair, a wool blanket draped over my legs, sipping chamomile tea while Dr. Sterling re-bandaged the surgical incision on my chest.

“You’re lucky you didn’t pop your stitches, young lady,” the doctor scolded gently, snapping off his latex gloves. “Another stunt like that and those seven bullets are going to look like a minor inconvenience.”

Dominic stood by the massive stone fireplace, staring into the flames with a glass of bourbon in his hand. When Dr. Sterling packed up his bag and left the room, Dominic turned around.

“Victor Costa is running out of options,” Dominic said quietly, walking over to kneel beside my chair. He placed his large, warm hand over mine resting on the blanket. “His men just failed to take this house. The Commission is going to strip him of his territory by sunrise. But Costa is desperate, and desperate men do stupid things.”

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Dock 4 down at the Brooklyn Navy Yard,” Dominic replied, his eyes dark and resolute. “He’s trying to catch a container ship bound for South America before my captains lock down the ports. I’m going down there to finish this tonight.”

I looked at him, the gold ring gleaming under the amber lamplight. “I’m coming with you.”

Dominic opened his mouth to argue, but I raised my hand, stopping him dead in his tracks.

“You said it yourself, Dominic. I’m a Rossi now. If Victor Costa ends tonight, I want to see it happen with my own eyes. Otherwise, every time the wind blows or a car backfires outside this house, I’ll be waiting for the next bullet.”

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At a family dinner, I stood up smiling and announced I was pregnant. The whole table went completely silent — then my mother-in-law suddenly let out a laugh and yelled: “She’s pretending to be pregnant just to milk money from us!” Before anyone could even react, she seized my hand and pushed me off the hotel rooftop to “prove” I was faking it. Broken and barely conscious, I came to in the hospital with my husband by my side, pale as a ghost and shaking. But the moment the doctor stepped in and opened his mouth, the words he said made the entire room freeze in utter disbelief and horror.

At a family dinner, I stood up smiling and announced I was pregnant. The...

At Christmas dinner, my mother-in-law pushed my plate away and said, “Leave—this table is for people who bring money into this family.” I turned to my husband and asked if he agreed, but his cold silence was the biggest mistake of his life, because two months later, my father’s true net worth destroyed his entire bloodline…

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Dominic stared at me for a long, silent moment. Then, a slow, proud smile broke across his handsome face. He reached out, gently cupping my cheek with his thumb.

“God help me,” Dominic whispered softly. “You’re going to be the death of me, Elena.”

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Chapter 8 - Rain at the Navy Yard
Chapter 9 - The Reckoning
Chapter 10 - Dawn Over Rossi Manor

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