Chapter 7 - THE SILENT WITNESS
The explosion rocked the room,
shattering the windows and sending the bodyguard flying.
Smoke filled the air,
acrid and thick.
Lorenzo’s men poured through the service entrance,
their movements a blur of tactical precision.
"Get the Boss!"
Lorenzo shouted over the ringing in my ears.
Vanessa was screaming,
trying to reach for the folder Dr. Harris had dropped.
But Harris was already moving,
pulling the IV needle from my arm with a sudden,
sharp jerk.
"It's digitalis and a synthetic coolant!"
Harris yelled.
"She was freezing your heart from the inside out!"
I felt the sudden rush of blood back into my limb,
a painful,
burning sensation.
The ice was broken.
Lorenzo grabbed me,
hoisting my weakened body over his shoulder.
"We have to move,
Dante!"
"Her reinforcements are at the front gate!"
I looked for Elena and Lily.
They were huddled behind a heavy oak dresser,
unharmed but terrified.
"Take them first!"
I commanded.
"I'm not leaving without them!"
Lorenzo didn't argue.
He signaled to two of his men.
"Cover the girls!"
We moved through the house,
the sounds of gunfire echoing in the grand marble hallways.
This was the house I had built to be a fortress.
And now,
it was a kill zone.
Vanessa’s voice rang out from the intercom system,
distorted and shrill.
"You can't escape,
Dante!"
"The board has already voted!"
"You're a dead man walking!"
We reached the library,
the room where I had spent years planning my rise.
I gestured to the private safe behind the portrait of my father.
"The key,"
I gasped,
handing it to Lorenzo.
"Get the drive."
"It has the recordings of her meetings with the board."
"It's the only thing that will stop the takeover."
Lily watched as the safe clicked open.
She looked at me,
her Cubs cap still firmly on her head.
"I told you the tea was funny,"
she said,
a hint of pride in her voice.
"You saved me,
Lily,"
I said,
reaching out to touch her hand.
"You both did."
We reached the service tunnel,
the dark,
damp passage that led to the street.
The air was cold,
but it was the cold of the world,
not the cold of the grave.
I felt the strength returning to my legs,
the poison finally flushing from my system.
"Where are we going?"
Elena asked as we piled into a black SUV.
"To the South Side,"
I said.
"To where it all began."
May you like
"I have a city to reclaim."
"And a family to protect."
