Chapter 8 - THE SHADOW OF THE MORETTIS
Dominic Morello’s eyes twitched with genuine surprise. He hadn't expected Luca Moretti to call his bluff so ruthlessly.
"You're a stone-cold bastard, Moretti," Dominic growled, tightening his grip on Vanessa's throat. "Fine. If she means nothing to you, then she dies first."
Dominic cocked the hammer of his revolver.
Vanessa screamed—a high, shattering sound of pure terror.
In that fraction of a second, as Dominic shifted his weight to pull the trigger, the small wooden door of the crawlspace burst open behind them.
It wasn't a tactical officer. It was me.
I hadn't planned it. I didn't have a gun. But lying on the dirt floor beside my knee was an old, heavy iron pipe—part of the home's original plumbing that had been removed years ago.
I charged out of the dark opening with every ounce of strength in my body and swung the heavy iron pipe like a baseball bat directly into the side of Dominic Morello’s knee.
CRACK.
Dominic roared in agony as his kneecap shattered. He stumbled backward, his grip slipping off Vanessa’s neck. His gun fired wildly into the ceiling as he collapsed onto the concrete floor.
"NOW!" Luca roared.
Luca stepped out from behind the pillar and fired three quick shots. The two remaining Morello gunmen dropped instantly. Marco tackled Dominic to the floor, disarming him and pinning his face into the wet concrete.
Vanessa collapsed onto her hands and knees, gasping for air, clutching her throat, sobbing hysterically on the floor.
I dropped the iron pipe, my hands shaking so violently I couldn't breathe.
Luca sprinted past the fallen men, completely ignoring Dominic and Vanessa, and rushed straight toward the crawlspace.
"Emily! Emily!" he called out desperately.
I helped pull Emily out of the dark space. She was pale, drenched in sweat, and clutching her lower abdomen, weeping.
"Dad..." she gasped. "The baby... the contractions are three minutes apart..."
Luca fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around his daughter, pulling her into his lap. "I'm here, sweetheart. I've got you. Marco! Call an ambulance! Clear the street!"
"Ambulance is four minutes out, Boss!" Marco yelled, securing Dominic with heavy zip-ties.
Luca looked up at me as I stood there, bruised, covered in dust, clutching my injured shoulder.
The terrifying mob boss looked at me with tears streaming down his face.
"Claire," Luca whispered, his voice choked with emotion. "You saved my daughter. You saved my grandchild."
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"She needed her dad, Mr. Moretti," I said quietly, wiping dirt from my face. "That's all that mattered."
Outside, the faint sound of police and ambulance sirens began to cut through the night fog.
