Chapter 3 - Blood Under the Glass
The Field Museum of Natural History was closed to the public.
Damian had rented out the entire facility for three hours, ensuring that Ava could experience the grand exhibits—specifically the seventy-foot skeleton of the prehistoric titanosaur—without the overwhelming noise of crowds, flashing cameras, or screaming children.
Ten armed guards in sharp, discreet suits patrolled the perimeter of the soaring Stanley Field Hall. High above, suspended from the ceiling, the massive prehistoric bones cast dramatic shadows across the marble floor.
Natalie walked hand-in-hand with Ava through the vast, echoey hall. Ava wore noise-canceling headphones playing soft ocean sounds, her face lit with genuine, pure wonder as she pointed up at the massive dinosaur skull.
"It's huge, Natty!" Ava giggled, clinging to Natalie’s arm. "It's bigger than Daddy's house!"
Natalie laughed softly, smoothing Ava’s hair. "It certainly is, sweetie. It lived millions of years ago."
A few yards behind them, Damian walked alongside Frank, his coat open, his eyes constantly scanning the upper balconies and the grand marble staircases. Despite the private reservation, Damian’s instincts were on high alert. The tension from the previous night's phone call hung heavily over his shoulders.
Suddenly, Frank’s earpiece crackled with static.
"Boss," a frantic guard’s voice echoed through the comms. "We've got a breech at the south entrance! Perimeter team is down! Repeat, perimeter—"
The comms cut out into harsh static.
POP! POP! POP!
Suppressed gunshots echoed through the grand hall! Two of DeLuca’s guards near the main entrance collapsed onto the polished floor, blood pooling beneath them.
"AMBUSH!" Frank roared, drawing his weapon and stepping in front of Damian.
Panic detonated instantly.
From the upper balconies overlooking the main hall, six heavily armed men clad in tactical gear and black masks opened fire with automatic submachine guns! Bullets rained down like a deadly storm, shattering glass display cases, spraying stone dust, and echoing like thunder explosions inside the cavernous museum!
TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK!
Ava let out an earth-shattering, terrifying scream, dropping to her knees, clutching her ears as the high-caliber gunfire shattered her fragile world!
"AVA!" Damian roared, sprinting toward his daughter, firing his heavy pistol upward with lethal precision. A shooter on the second-floor balcony took a bullet to the chest and tumbled over the railing, crashing onto the marble floor below.
"Natalie! Get her behind the display!" Damian screamed, his face contorted in rage and fear.
Natalie didn't think. Instinct took over. She threw herself over Ava’s body, wrapping her legs and arms around the child like a human shield as glass rained down around them like razor-sharp hail!
CRASH!
A burst of bullets hit the suspension wires holding the massive, forty-foot display case containing ancient fossilized marine reptiles directly above them! The thick steel cables snapped with a sound like a cracking whip!
"LOOK OUT!" Frank screamed.
The multi-ton glass and metal display crashed down toward Natalie and Ava!
Natalie grabbed Ava, rolling violently across the slick marble floor just as the massive case slammed onto the ground where they had been laying a fraction of a second prior! The impact shattered the heavy reinforced glass into millions of dangerous shards, sending a shockwave through the hall.
Trapped beneath the overhang of the giant dinosaur skeleton’s stone pedestal, Natalie cradled the hysterical child against her chest. Ava was hyperventilating, her eyes rolling back in sheer terror.
"I've got you, Ava! I've got you!" Natalie yelled over the deafening gunfire, pulling her wool scarf over Ava’s face to protect her from flying glass and smoke.
Through the haze of dust and gun smoke, a tall, broad man walked slowly down the central staircase, holding a silver-plated hand cannon. He pulled off his leather gloves, a cruel, triumph smile spreading across his face.
Leo Moretti.
"Damian!" Moretti’s voice echoed maliciously through the shattered hall. "It ends today! Your empire dies, and your precious little freak dies with it!"
Damian was pinned behind a stone pillar, blood dripping from a crease on his temple where a bullet had grazed him. His guards were down or pinned. He had three bullets left in his clip.
Moretti raised his gun, aiming it directly at the gap beneath the dinosaur pedestal—where Natalie’s bright green coat was visible.
"Say goodbye to your daughter’s nanny, DeLuca," Moretti sneered, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Natalie looked into the barrel of the gun. Time seemed to freeze. She squeezed her eyes shut, pressing Ava deeper under her body, preparing for the violent impact.
BANG!
A deafening shot filled the air—but it didn't come from Moretti’s gun.
Moretti’s eyes widened in shock. He staggered backward, dropping his silver weapon as a red bloom expanded across the center of his chest. He looked up toward the grand entrance archway in disbelief before crashing lifelessly down the marble steps.
Standing at the entrance was Frank, holding a heavy tactical sniper rifle, smoke curling from the barrel. Behind him, three squad cars from the Chicago Police Department—bribed and controlled by DeLuca allies—rushed into the plaza with sirens blaring!
The remaining attackers panicked, fleeing toward the emergency exits as DeLuca reinforcements swarmed the building.
"CLEAR!" Frank shouted.
Damian didn't wait. He broke from behind the pillar, sprinting across the glass-strewn floor, throwing himself onto his knees beside the pedestal.
"Natalie! Ava!" His voice was ragged, desperate, broken.
He reached into the wreckage, pulling Natalie out first, his hands checking her frantically for injuries. "Are you hit? Tell me! Are you hit?!"
"I'm... I'm okay," Natalie gasped, covered in white stone dust and small glass scratches, her heart pounding like a trapped bird. "I’m okay. Check Ava!"
Damian pulled Ava from beneath the stone ledge. The little girl was unhurt, protected entirely by Natalie’s body. The moment Ava saw her father, she wrapped her arms around his neck, weeping uncontrollably.
Damian pulled both of them—his traumatized daughter and the brave woman who had risked her life to shield her—into his broad chest. He buried his face in Natalie’s neck, holding them with a desperate, crushing strength.
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"Thank you," Damian choked out, his voice thick with raw tears—the first time he had wept in four years. "God help me, Natalie... thank you."
As police sirens wailed outside and red lights flashed through the shattered windows, Natalie held onto Damian, realizing with absolute clarity that she had fallen deeply, irrevocably in love with the most dangerous man in Chicago.
