Chapter 5 - The Siege of Sewickley
Gabriel’s romantic softness vanished in a fraction of a second. The cold, lethal mafia king was back.
He reached behind his back, pulled a sleek black semi-automatic pistol from his hidden holster, and racked the slide with a sharp CLICK.
“Stay behind me,” Gabriel ordered, pulling Hannah behind his broad frame as he stepped out into the hallway.
The mansion was in chaotic, disciplined motion. Moretti enforcers in tactical gear were moving down the corridors, automatic rifles raised, securing key doorways.
Down the hall, two private nurses were wheeling Noah’s medical bed into a reinforced panic room located behind a book cabinet.
“Noah!” Hannah cried out, trying to run toward her brother.
“He’s safe, Miss Hannah!” the head nurse called out as the heavy iron panic door sealed shut. “This room is bomb-proof! Get inside with Mr. Moretti!”
Before Gabriel could guide Hannah into the panic room, a heavy explosion rocked the lower floor of the mansion.
BOOM!
The glass chandeliers rattled violently overhead. Dust rained down from the plaster ceiling.
Guns fired in rapid succession from the grand foyer below—the deafening sound of automatic gunfire tearing through the elegant quiet of the estate.
“Marco!” Gabriel shouted into his comms earpiece as he dragged Hannah into a secure alcove behind a stone pillar. “Report!”
“They bypassed the outer gate with a heavy transport truck!” Marco yelled over the sound of gunfire. “Dominic Castello is here himself! He brought thirty men! We’re holding the main staircase, but they brought heavy tactical gear!”
Gabriel’s eyes burned with a dark, murderous fury. Dominic Castello had dared to launch a full-scale assault on his primary residence. It wasn't just a raid; it was an act of total war.
“Gabriel,” Hannah whispered, her hand clutching his arm, her eyes wide with terror as bullets struck the stone archway above them, sending marble chips flying.
Gabriel looked down at her. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a silver key on a thin chain, and slipped it over her head.
“This key unlocks the private emergency elevator behind my bedroom closet,” Gabriel told her, his voice absolute and calm amidst the war raging around them. “It leads to an underground tunnel that exits half a mile away in the woods. Marco’s deputy is waiting at the end with a car.”
“No!” Hannah shook her head frantically. “I’m not leaving you!”
“Hannah, listen to me,” Gabriel growled softly, grabbing her shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Dominic wants you. He thinks taking you will break me the way he broke me five years ago with Evelyn’s sister. I will not let history repeat itself.”
“Then come with me!” she begged, tears spilling down her face.
“I have to stay,” Gabriel said, a dark, terrifying smile touching his lips. “If I leave, Dominic will burn this house and hunt us forever. I am going to end him today.”
He pulled her face to his and kissed her—a deep, fierce, possessive kiss that tasted of fire and promise.
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“Go,” Gabriel ordered, pushing her toward his bedroom door. “Live, Hannah. For your brother. For me.”
He turned around, drew a second pistol from his waist, and stepped out into the hallway, firing three rapid shots into the smoke as Castello’s gunmen reached the top of the stairs.
