Chapter 7 - THE FALL OF A TRAITOR
Gabriel hadn't stayed at the Symphony Center. The moment Daniel revealed the bunker’s location had been compromised, Gabriel had unleashed his snipers to disable Daniel’s men, taken Daniel alive, and raced back to the steel mill, dragging his treacherous lieutenant by the collar of his expensive coat.
Gabriel strode over the bodies of the mercenaries, his chest heaving, his eyes locking onto me. Seeing I was unharmed, the tension in his shoulders dropped, only to be replaced by a terrifying, cold wrath as he dragged Daniel into the ruined medical bay and threw him onto the blood-slicked floor.
"Look at her," Gabriel commanded, pressing the barrel of his gun against the back of Daniel’s head. "Look at the woman you tried to butcher."
Daniel, bleeding from a shattered kneecap, spat blood onto the floor. "She’s a rat, Gabe. She made you soft. I did this for the family! I did this for the empire!"
"You did this for yourself," Gabriel snarled, his boot crashing into Daniel’s ribs, producing a sickening crack. "You fabricated evidence. You started a war with Connor Bell to cover your tracks. You tortured the woman carrying my child. There is no empire without her, Daniel. She is my empire."
Daniel laughed, a wet, choking sound. "Kill me, then. Connor Bell knows everything. The feds know everything. You're a dead man ruling a graveyard."
Gabriel leaned down, his voice barely a whisper, yet it filled the silent room. "Connor Bell is dead. My men took his head ten minutes ago. The feds have a dossier on your offshore accounts, framing you as the sole orchestrator of this week's violence. I am wiping you from history."
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Gabriel didn't hesitate. He pulled the trigger. The booming echo signaled the absolute end of the rebellion. The traitor was dead. The empire was secure. But as Gabriel turned to me, the gun dropping from his hand as he rushed to embrace me, a sudden, agonizing tear ripped through my abdomen. A gush of warm fluid spilled down my legs.
I gripped his lapels, my knees buckling. "Gabriel," I gasped, the pain blinding me. "The baby. It's coming. Now."
