Chapter 4: The Attack
Chapter 4: The Attack
Three hours later, the storm had intensified.
Lightning split the sky above Chicago.
Most of the customers had been questioned and released.
Only Dominic's inner circle remained.
Including Sophie.
She had tried leaving twice.
Both attempts failed.
The first because Matteo woke up crying whenever she disappeared.
The second because Dominic himself had stopped her.
"Stay until morning."
That wasn't a request.
Now she sat near the fireplace feeding Matteo from a bottle one of the guards had rushed to purchase.
The tiny boy looked far healthier.
Much happier.
And completely attached to her.
Which was becoming a problem.
A dangerous problem.
Because every time Dominic looked at his son smiling at Sophie, something strange happened to his expression.
Something human.
Something vulnerable.
Then the lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the restaurant.
A woman screamed.
Glass exploded.
BANG!
The front window shattered inward.
Gunfire erupted.
Chaos followed.
"DOWN!" a guard roared.
Customers hit the floor.
Tables overturned.
More glass shattered.
Outside, black SUVs skidded to a stop.
Men poured out.
Armed men.
DeLuca soldiers.
They weren't waiting for another opportunity.
They had come for Matteo.
Tonight.
Sophie instinctively curled around the baby.
Shielding him with her body.
A bullet tore through the wall behind her.
Dominic saw it.
And something inside him snapped.
"GET THEM OUT!"
His men returned fire.
The restaurant transformed into a battlefield.
Smoke.
Shouting.
Gunshots.
Blood.
The DeLucas crashed through the ruined entrance.
One attacker spotted Sophie.
"There!"
His weapon swung toward her.
Toward Matteo.
Time slowed.
Sophie froze.
The baby began crying.
The gunman smiled.
Then Dominic appeared.
Like a storm.
The first punch broke the man's jaw.
The second sent him crashing through a table.
The third ended the fight completely.
More attackers surged forward.
Dominic's bodyguards intercepted them.
But there were too many.
Far too many.
This wasn't an attack.
It was an assassination attempt.
And somebody had known exactly where to find Matteo.
Which meant there was still a traitor.
Inside the Moretti organization.
Feeding information directly to the enemy.
A gunshot echoed.
One of Dominic's guards fell.
Another was wounded.
The attackers kept coming.
Then Dominic reached Sophie.
His eyes immediately found Matteo.
Alive.
Safe.
Relief flashed across his face.
Only for a second.
"Can you run?"
Sophie nodded.
"Good."
"What about you?"
A cold smile appeared.
The kind that made grown men fear him.
"I'll make sure nobody follows."
Before Sophie could answer, another explosion rocked the building.
The ceiling trembled.
Fire alarms erupted.
Water sprayed everywhere.
The restaurant was becoming a death trap.
Dominic leaned closer.
Close enough that only she could hear.
"If anything happens to me..."
Sophie stared at him.
"...take my son and run."
Her heart stopped.
"What?"
"Promise me."
Another volley of gunfire erupted.
Dominic drew a handgun.
His eyes never left hers.
For the first time all night, the feared mafia king looked terrified.
Not for himself.
For his child.
"Promise me, Sophie."
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And as Matteo cried between them, Sophie realized she had just become part of something she could never walk away from again.
To be continued....
