Chapter 7 – THE STAIRWELL

“Move!” Silvio barked.

Dominic grabbed my hand, pulling me and Noah toward the back of the penthouse.

Gunfire erupted in the hallway outside. Silvio’s men were already screaming.

“Fire escape!” Dominic yelled over the deafening noise. He kicked open a steel service door in the kitchen, leading out to a freezing, wind-whipped stairwell.

We rushed down the metal steps, Noah crying hysterically in my arms. Dominic covered our descent, his gun raised, eyes locked on the door above us.

“Dominic!” Silvio shouted, limping heavily as he followed us down. Blood was already blooming on his shoulder. “Get to the garage! My armored car is in bay four!”

We hit the subterranean parking garage. The harsh fluorescent lights flickered. It was eerily quiet compared to the war zone upstairs.

Dominic shoved us behind a massive concrete pillar. “Stay here. Don’t make a sound.”

He stepped out, checking the perimeter.

I pressed Noah’s face into my shoulder, rocking him, whispering promises I wasn’t sure I could keep. I felt the cold pearl rosary pressed against my chest inside my coat pocket.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed across the concrete.

Not heavy boots. The sharp, unmistakable click of high heels.

“Dominic, darling,” a woman’s voice called out, echoing through the empty garage.

It was Vanessa.

I peeked around the concrete pillar. She was standing near the exit ramp, flanked by four heavily armed men. She was no longer wearing the red silk gown. She wore a black trench coat, looking completely calm.

“You’re making this very difficult,” Vanessa sighed, examining her manicure. “Just hand over the maid and the brat, and we can still be married by the weekend.”

Dominic stepped out from behind a black SUV, his gun aimed directly at her head. “You’re not marrying anyone, Vanessa. The wedding is off.”

Vanessa laughed. “Oh, Dominic. You really don’t understand the board you’re playing on.”

She snapped her fingers.

One of her men didn’t aim at Dominic. He turned and aimed his rifle directly at the concrete pillar where I was hiding.

“Bring them out, or we shred the pillar,” Vanessa said boredly.

I didn’t wait for them to shoot. I stepped out, holding Noah tightly, shielding his body with my own.

“Ah, there she is,” Vanessa smiled. “The little home-wrecker.”

Dominic’s knuckles went white on his gun. “Let them go, Vanessa. You want the territory? Take it. Let them walk away.”

Vanessa tilted her head. “I can’t do that. Your father’s trust is very specific. As long as that child breathes, I get nothing.”

She signaled her men. They raised their weapons.

But suddenly, the elevator doors at the end of the garage pinged open.

A figure stepped out.

It wasn’t one of Vanessa’s men. It wasn’t Silvio’s men.

It was a woman in her late twenties, wearing a cheap trench coat, looking absolutely terrified.

“Vanessa!” the woman screamed. “You promised you wouldn’t hurt them!”

I gasped.

It was Sarah. My sister.

Vanessa looked annoyed. “I told you to wait in the car, Sarah. You already got your money.”

“You said you just wanted them out of the city!” Sarah cried, running directly between the gunmen and us. She looked at me, tears streaming down her face. “Claire, I’m so sorry! I needed the money, but I didn’t know they wanted to kill you!”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Shoot them all. I’m tired of this family drama.”

Before the men could fire, a massive black truck slammed through the garage exit gate, hitting two of Vanessa’s men instantly.

Marco kicked the truck door open, firing wildly.

In the chaos, Vanessa grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin. “If I don’t get the empire,” she hissed, “you don’t get the child!”

She ripped Noah from my arms.

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