CHAPTER 7 — THE LAST RECKONING
CHAPTER 7 — THE LAST RECKONING
Steel shutters crashed over every window and doorway with a deafening roar.
The grand hall became a fortress.
No one was getting in.
No one was getting out.
Damian Cross looked around, stunned for the first time that night.
"You trapped yourself."
Dominic slowly lowered his shotgun.
"No."
"I trapped the traitors."
Smoke drifted through the shattered chandeliers. Fire crackled in the east wing, casting orange light across the marble floor.
Victoria's hands tightened around her pistol.
"Kill him!"
The surviving mercenaries opened fire.
Bullets ripped through pillars and antique furniture.
Lucas dragged Meline behind a stone column while Samuel Reese returned fire from the balcony above.
Within seconds, two mercenaries fell.
Another tried to rush the staircase.
Samuel dropped him with a single shot.
Damian cursed.
"You've still got loyal men."
Dominic answered calmly,
"I never lost them."
"I only stopped looking."
The battle narrowed until only four people remained standing in the center of the hall.
Dominic.
Damian.
Victoria.
Lucas.
The smoke made visibility almost impossible.
For everyone...
Except Dominic.
He couldn't see the smoke.
He heard breathing.
One heartbeat raced faster than the others.
Victoria.
She was terrified.
Damian shoved her forward.
"Go!"
She hesitated.
He pushed her again.
"Now!"
Only then did she finally understand.
She had never been his partner.
She had been his shield.
A gunshot echoed.
Victoria screamed.
The bullet had not come from Dominic.
It came from Damian.
He had shot her through the shoulder to create a distraction while he fled toward the western staircase.
She collapsed, staring after him in disbelief.
"You..."
"You shot me..."
Damian never looked back.
"You're no longer useful."
Dominic heard the footsteps.
Fast.
Heavy.
Panicked.
He smiled faintly.
"Still running."
He followed the sound with impossible precision.
Step.
Step.
Step.
At the top of the staircase Damian spun around and fired wildly.
One bullet grazed Dominic's arm.
Another shattered the banister.
The third missed entirely.
Dominic kept walking.
"Do you remember South Ward?"
Damian's breathing caught.
"I found you freezing behind a dumpster."
"I gave you my coat."
Another step.
"I gave you my name."
Another.
"I called you brother."
Damian screamed and emptied the rest of the magazine.
Click.
Empty.
Dominic stopped only a few feet away.
"You betrayed the only man who ever loved you like family."
Damian lunged with a combat knife.
Dominic didn't move until the last second.
His cane struck Damian's wrist.
The knife flew across the floor.
A second strike shattered Damian's knee.
He collapsed with a cry of pain.
Dominic placed the tip of the cane beneath Damian's chin.
"I could kill you."
Damian laughed through bloody teeth.
"Then do it."
For several long seconds...
No one spoke.
Finally Dominic lowered the cane.
"No."
"You deserve something worse."
"You'll live."
"You'll answer for every life you stole."
Lucas stepped forward and handcuffed Damian.
The former underboss hung his head for the first time in his life.
The king he thought he'd destroyed...
Had defeated him without taking revenge.
Meanwhile, Victoria lay bleeding on the marble floor.
She reached weakly toward Dominic.
"I..."
"I'm sorry."
He stood silently beside her.
"I did love you."
Dominic answered without anger.
"I believe you."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"But not enough."
She closed her eyes.
Those were the last words she ever heard.
May you like
She survived the night...
But spent the rest of her life serving a prison sentence after testifying against the politicians, businessmen, and crime figures who had conspired with Damian.
