Chapter 5 - The Siege of Mayfair Estate
By 3:00 AM, the storm had turned into a violent squall. Lightning illuminated the dark grounds of the Mayfair estate, reflecting off the slick wet pavement where armed guards moved in tight tactical formations.
Inside Dominic’s private war room on the third floor, maps of Chicago were spread across the central table.
I stood beside Dominic, watching him review defensive positions with his top lieutenants. The fear that had paralyzed me hours ago at Mabel’s Diner had transformed into something else—a strange, deep resolve. I wasn't just a bystander anymore. I was tied to this man, to his past, and to the memory of his brother.
“They’re coming through the east gate,” Dominic said, pointing to a blue line on the map. “Vance gave them our security clearance codes before we caught him. The Valentis will hit us hard and fast, thinking we’re panicked.”
“Don Dominic,” Pike said, stepping into the room with a tactical shotgun slung over his shoulder. “We’ve secured the perimeter, but the Valenti strike team is heavy—at least forty men armed with automatic weapons. They’re ten minutes out.”
Dominic turned to me, his dark eyes softening instantly.
He walked over to a safe in the wall, pulled out a sleek, lightweight silver handgun, and presented it to me butt-first.
“Do you know how to use this?” he asked gently.
I looked at the weapon, then up into his gray eyes. “My mother taught me how to shoot a revolver when I turned eighteen. She said a woman living alone in Chicago should never rely on anyone else for protection.”
A small, proud smile touched Dominic’s lips. “Good. Keep the safety off. Stay in the safe room behind my study with two guards. No matter what you hear outside, do not open that door until I come for you.”
“Dominic,” I said, reaching out to grab his sleeve before he could turn away.
He stopped, looking down at my hand on his arm.
“Be careful,” I whispered, my heart aching with a sudden, sharp fear of losing him again—just as I had lost him twenty years ago in Oakhaven. “I just found you.”
Dominic raised his hand, gently cupping my cheek. His calloused thumb brushed softly against my skin, sending a wave of electric warmth straight through my veins.
“I spent twenty years searching for a ghost, Lena,” Dominic murmured, his voice filled with a fierce, intoxicating devotion. “Now that you’re standing in front of me, not all the guns in Chicago can tear me away from you.”
He leaned down and pressed a deep, lingering kiss to my forehead before turning back to his men.
“Move out!” Dominic ordered, his voice turning back to steel. “Let’s show the Valentis why the North Side belongs to the Costas!”
Ten minutes later, the world shattered into violence.
Automatic gunfire roared through the lower courtyard, echoing like thunder against the stone estate walls! Grenades exploded near the outer gates, blowing out the tall stained-glass windows of the Great Hall!
Inside the reinforced safe room behind Dominic’s study, I stood with my back against the steel wall, holding the silver handgun in both hands. Two heavy guards stood at the heavy reinforced door, their weapons trained on the entrance.
For twenty terrifying minutes, the house shook with the sound of gunfire, screaming men, and shattering marble.
Then, the gunfire near the study suddenly ceased.
A heavy silence descended upon the third floor.
CLICK.
The electronic lock on the safe room door buzzed. The heavy steel door slowly swung open.
A man stepped into the doorway—but it wasn't Dominic.
It was Capo Moretti, holding a blood-stained pistol, flanked by two Valenti mercenaries!
The two guards inside the safe room raised their weapons, but Moretti fired twice with blinding speed, dropping both guards to the floor before they could pull their triggers!
I gasped, raising my silver handgun, locking my sights straight onto Moretti’s chest!
“Lower the gun, girl,” Moretti sneered, wiping blood from his cheek. “Vance wasn't the only one on Valenti’s payroll. I’ve been running this city since before Dominic was in diapers. Once I put a bullet in your head and let Valenti finish Dominic outside, the Costa empire will finally be under my control.”
He stepped toward me, raising his weapon.
“My mother taught me one thing about men like you,” I said, my voice dropping into a cold, steady whisper.
Moretti frowned. “What?”
“You talk too much.”
BANG!
I pulled the trigger.
The recoil kicked up into my hands, but the bullet struck Moretti straight through the right shoulder! He shrieked in pain, dropping his pistol onto the floor!
The two Valenti mercenaries behind him raised their automatic rifles toward me—
Suddenly, a shadow lunged from the dark hallway behind them!
A flash of steel flashed through the dim light!
Dominic appeared like a terrifying demon of death, driving a combat blade into the first mercenary’s throat before spinning and firing two precise shots into the second guard’s chest!
Both men collapsed instantly.
Dominic grabbed Moretti by his wounded shoulder, dragging the screaming traitor out into the hallway and slamming him against the stone wall!
“You touched her room,” Dominic growled, his face covered in soot and blood, his gray eyes burning with apocalyptic fury.
“Dominic—please!” Moretti wheezed, clutching his bleeding shoulder. “It was Valenti! He paid me millions—!”
Dominic didn't let him finish. He raised his heavy weapon and fired once, ending the traitor’s life instantly.
Moretti’s body slid down the wall, falling limp onto the floor.
Dominic dropped his weapon, stepping quickly into the safe room. His dark eyes scanned me from head to toe, checking every inch of my body for injuries.
“Are you hurt?” he gasped, his voice trembling with a desperate panic I had never heard from him before. “Lena, speak to me! Are you hurt?!”
I lowered the silver handgun, my hands shaking uncontrollably as the adrenaline rushed out of my system.
“I... I shot him,” I whispered, staring at the floor.
Dominic closed the distance between us, pulling me fiercely into his arms. His broad, solid chest pressed against mine, his heartbeat hammering against his ribs—fast, wild, and alive.
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“You saved yourself,” Dominic whispered into my dark hair, holding me so tight I could barely breathe. “You were brilliant, Lena. You were magnificent.”
I buried my face into his neck, smelling rain, gunpowder, and his distinct, intoxicating scent, feeling safe for the first time in twenty years.
