Chapter 6
The private service elevator descended with a smooth, silent hum, the digital floor indicator flashing downward toward the sub-basement. Inside the cold steel box, the tension was suffocating. Hannah held Sophia impossibly tight, her plus-sized frame shielding the tiny girl in the pale-yellow floral dress.
Sophia rested her head against Hannah’s shoulder, her rosy cheeks soft and surprisingly calm. "Hannah's heart is beating really fast, Daddy," the three-year-old whispered, her bright eyes looking up at Luca.
Luca’s intense, piercing gaze softened for a fraction of a second as he looked at his daughter. "Hannah is just being very brave for us, sweetheart. And I need you to be brave for her."
"I will," Sophia nodded, clutching the white lace trim of Hannah’s apron.
Luca turned his attention back to the sliding doors, drawing his suppressed handgun once more. The dark tattoos on his forearms flexed as he gripped the weapon, his black dress shirt pulling slightly across his broad, muscular chest. He was a man going to war, and his mind was operating with terrifying clarity.
"Listen to me carefully, Hannah," Luca instructed, his voice a low, commanding whisper. "When these doors open, it will be a straight fifty-yard sprint to the armored SUV. The keys are already in the ignition, but the doors are biometric. I have to unlock it for you. Do not stop running, no matter what you hear."
"I understand," Hannah replied, her warm face pale, but a fierce, protective maternal instinct burning in her expressive tearful eyes. She adjusted her grip on the heavy toddler, ignoring the burning strain in her arms.
The elevator decelerated. The soft ding of arrival echoed in the confined space.
"Stay behind me," Luca ordered.
The steel doors slid apart. The sub-basement garage was expansive, built of cold, gray concrete, and bathed in harsh, flickering fluorescent light. It was eerily quiet. Luca stepped out first, his polished black dress shoes making barely a sound. His weapon was raised, his sharp eyes scanning the concrete pillars and shadows.
"Clear," Luca whispered, waving Hannah forward. "Move. Now."
Hannah bolted from the elevator. Her mint-green service dress swished rapidly around her knees as she ran across the concrete floor, carrying Sophia toward the massive, menacing black SUV parked in Bay 4. Luca stayed right beside them, acting as a human shield, his eyes darting to every corner.
They were twenty yards away when the trap was sprung.
With a loud, electrical clack, the main breaker for the sub-basement was thrown. The harsh fluorescent lights instantly died, plunging the massive garage into absolute, suffocating darkness, illuminated only by the faint, eerie red glow of emergency exit signs.
Hannah gasped, stumbling slightly in her pale-yellow shoes, but she caught her balance, holding Sophia tightly.
"Get behind that pillar!" Luca hissed, shoving Hannah roughly but safely behind a massive structural concrete column.
"Well, well, Luca," Marcus’s cold, arrogant voice echoed through the dark, cavernous garage. "I knew you wouldn't trust the front door. You always were a paranoid bastard."
Luca pressed his back against the concrete pillar, shielding Hannah and Sophia. His piercing eyes rapidly adjusted to the low light. "You brought men into my private garage, Marcus? That’s a bold final move."
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"It's the winning move," Marcus called out, the sound of several weapons being chambered echoing from the darkness near the exit ramp. "The Falcones promised me your empire, Luca. All I have to do is leave you and the waitress bleeding on the concrete. Nothing personal."
"Everything is personal when it comes to my daughter," Luca growled softly, stepping away from the pillar, allowing the darkness to swallow him completely.
