Chapter 8 - THE LION'S DEN
Rossi had taken them to his stronghold, a fortified compound on the outskirts of the city. He thought he was untouchable. He thought I would come begging, offering terms of surrender to save my family.
He didn't understand what he had created.
I didn't knock. We drove a reinforced armored truck straight through the front gates. Explosions rocked the compound as my men flooded the perimeter. I walked through the smoke and gunfire like a reaper, a suppressed assault rifle in my hands, putting down anyone who wore Rossi colors.
I fought my way to the main house, kicking down the heavy mahogany doors.
Inside the grand foyer, Antonio Rossi was holding a gun to Emma's head. Oliver was tied to a chair nearby, crying silently, his eyes wide with terror.
"Drop the weapon, Hale!" Rossi screamed, his composure completely broken by the siege outside. "Drop it, or I paint the walls with her brains!"
Emma met my eyes. She didn't look afraid. She looked furious. She gave me a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
"You think you've won, Antonio?" I asked, lowering my rifle slightly, stepping forward. "You think taking them makes you strong?"
"It makes me the king of Chicago!" he spat.
"No," Emma whispered fiercely. "It makes you dead."
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In a blur of motion, Emma slammed her elbow backward into her father's ribs, stomping her heel onto his instep. Rossi stumbled, his gun firing blindly into the ceiling.
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