Chapter 5 - The Traitor Within
The reunion was interrupted before it could truly begin.
A sharp, rhythmic series of double-taps echoed from the street below—the unmistakable signal of an urgent perimeter alert from Leo’s security detail.
Dominic stood up instantly, the softness in his eyes vanishing, replaced by the lethal, calculating focus of a syndicate boss at war. He drew his silenced automatic from his shoulder holster, checking the slide with a practiced flick of his thumb.
“Get away from the windows,” Dominic commanded, his voice dropping an octave as he moved toward the apartment door.
“Dom, what’s happening?” Maribel asked, her face draining of color as she pulled Annie tightly against her chest.
“They found you,” Dominic said grimly. “Or rather... they followed me here.”
He cracked the apartment door open an inch.
In the dim hallway below, the overhead light flickered and died. Heavy, booted footsteps were ascending the stairs—not two or three men, but half a dozen, moving with the synchronized, tactical precision of professional hitmen. Not street thugs. Not Bellini soldiers.
Federal-issue gear. Suppressed carbines. Black tactical vests.
A federal leak, Dominic realized with a jolt of ice-cold fury. The same corrupt faction that had tried to assassinate Maribel four years ago had tracked her down through her recent movements near Maribel’s Café.
The front door of the apartment suddenly exploded inward as a heavy breaching charge blew the deadbolt straight out of the frame.
Splintered wood and white plaster rained across the living room.
“Down!” Dominic roared, shoving Maribel and Annie behind the heavy oak dining table just as a hail of suppressed gunfire chewed through the drywall above their heads.
Dominic fired three rapid shots through the smoke, catching the lead assailant squarely in the chest plate. The man dropped instantly, crashing backward down the stairwell.
“Boss! We’re flanked!” Leo’s voice crackled over the secure earpiece from the alley below. “They’ve got the exits covered! Federal ATF tactical units mixed with rogue syndicate hitters! It’s a clean-out operation!”
“How many?” Dominic shouted, ducking behind the doorframe as return fire splintered the remaining wood to toothpicks.
“At least a dozen! They’re coming up the fire escape too!”
Dominic looked back at Maribel and Annie. Fear was etched into their faces, but Maribel didn't scream; she held her daughter with the fierce, protective desperation of a lioness guarding her cub.
“Take the rear window,” Dominic ordered, grabbing Maribel by the arm and pulling her toward the small kitchen. “There’s a service ladder leading down to the wharf behind the fish market. Leo has a car waiting in the alley.”
“I’m not leaving without you, Dom!” Maribel cried, gripping his jacket.
May you like
“You’re going, Maribel, because my job right now is to make sure our family survives this city,” Dominic said, his voice fierce, tender, and absolute. He pressed a spare magazine into her hand. “Go. I’ll buy you the time.”
Before she could argue, Dominic turned back into the living room, stepped over the wreckage of the front door, and stepped out into the smoke-filled hallway to meet the war head-on.
