He Chose My Copy I Became The Law Chapter 14
The negotiations in Cinder Bay proved much more dangerous than anyone had expected.
Inside an abandoned warehouse at the port, I endured a brutal six-day standoff with Ortega and the twelve gunmen under his command.
More than once, the muzzle of a gun was pressed straight against my forehead.
At last, just as my remaining leverage compelled him to sign, the town’s rival gangs attacked one another and a vicious exchange of gunfire broke out.
My bodyguards went down one after another while buying me time to escape. I took cover behind a thick concrete barrier, but a piece of flying shrapnel tore into my arm and quickly soaked my trench coat in crimson.
Braced against the icy wall, I powered up my encrypted device, photographed the signed treaty, and transmitted the image to Porto Aurelia.
While the progress bar edged ahead, bullets hammered the sheet-metal roof and muzzle flashes flared through its ragged holes.
At that instant, memories swept over me in a torrent.
The broken hallway light at the orphanage that no one ever repaired, even during the coldest winter nights.
The New Year’s Eve when Adrian and I shared a single plate of spaghetti in that shabby apartment.
The infant who arrived far too early and lay in an incubator, his tiny fingers never strong enough to close around mine.
The comforting heat of Cesare’s hands as he placed the antique silver pocket chronometer in my palm inside the study.
And my father’s gaze in the portrait—eyes identical to my own.
The words Message Sent flashed across the screen.
At the precise moment the treaty reached the Family, the thugs burst through the scrap-metal door shielding my position, their weapons raised.
Without panic, I adjusted the blood-soaked collar of my coat, shut my eyes, and waited for the bullets to strike.
Then, in that very instant, the thunder of engines tore through the warehouse’s corrugated walls.
Several armored Range Rovers crashed inside like a pack of savage beasts.
Heavy covering fire erupted immediately. Porto Aurelia’s most lethal hitmen surged from the vehicles, eliminated the remaining thugs within seconds, and closed ranks around me in an unbreakable barrier.
An enforcer drenched in blood hauled me to my feet. The explosions had left my ears shrilling.
Above the cascade of spent cartridges, his ragged shout cut through the ringing. “Stay with us, Miss Rinaldi! The Commission sent us! Our orders are to bring the Consigliere’s daughter home!”
I stared at him, then at the Family hitmen spread behind him in defensive formation, each man risking his life to keep me protected at its center.
In that instant, a smile lifted my bloodied lips.
I let my eyes fall shut. At last, someone had come for me this time. Someone had come to take me home.Â