Chapter 13 - The Trap at the Docks
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"Lock Enzo in the vault downstairs," Dante ordered, already stripping off his tuxedo jacket and reaching into the hidden weapons locker behind the mahogany paneling. "If he so much as breathes too loudly, shoot him in the other hand."
He strapped a tactical shoulder holster over his black silk shirt, checked the magazines of two spare Glocks, and grabbed a heavy assault rifle.
"Dante, wait!" Clara caught his arm as he moved toward the elevator. "Enzo just admitted the whole thing is a distraction! What if the Navy Yard is a second trap specifically to draw you out of this building?"
Dante stopped, looking down at her hand on his bicep. "Twelve of my men are pinned down on Pier 4 right now, Clara. I don't sit in an ivory tower drinking scotch while men who bleed for me get slaughtered on the docks."
"Then don't go in blind," she pleaded, her heart aching at the thought of him walking into another hail of bullets. "Viktor wants you angry. He wants you rushing in."
Dante’s harsh expression softened fractionally. Before she could anticipate what he was doing, his free hand cupped the back of her neck, tangling in her dark hair, and he pulled her in, crushing his mouth against hers.
The kiss was fierce, desperate, and tasted of bourbon and smoke—every ounce of unspoken heat that had been building between them since she slipped her fingers across his knuckles in L’Ombra exploding in a single, breathless collision. Clara gasped against his lips, her arms winding instinctively around his neck before he tore himself away, his forehead resting against hers.
"Stay inside the panic room with your brother and Maya," Dante commanded huskily. "The steel doors only open with my biometric print or from the inside. Don't open them for anyone until you see my face."
Before she could say another word, the elevator doors slid shut, taking him and Luca into the night.
Twenty minutes later, Clara was pacing the length of the reinforced panic suite behind the study while Toby, Maya, and little Sofia slept in the adjoining bunk room. A bank of closed-circuit monitors on the wall showed the penthouse security feeds, alongside a live police scanner and GPS tracker showing Dante’s convoy approaching the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Sitting on the console beside the monitors was Enzo’s confiscated burner phone, which Luca had tossed onto the desk before rushing out.
Suddenly, the burner phone’s screen lit up with an incoming text.
Clara stepped over and peered down at the glowing screen. It wasn't from Viktor’s number. It was an automated calendar alert set by Enzo himself for 12:45 AM:
PUMP ROOM VALVE — TOWER SUB-BASEMENT.
Clara frowned. Why would Enzo have a reminder for the penthouse building’s sub-basement water and gas main at 12:45 AM if the attack was happening in Brooklyn?
Her eyes darted up to the corner security monitor showing the building’s underground parking garage.
Two black ConEdison utility vans had just rolled through the service gate—driven by men who had used Enzo’s master override codes. As the men stepped out carrying heavy canvas satchels, one of them paused beneath the fluorescent light to light a cigarette.
May you like
A silver Zippo flashed in his palm.
The Navy Yard wasn't the main target. Viktor Kael was right downstairs—and he was wiring the foundations of the Moretti Tower with C4 to bring the whole penthouse crashing down while Dante watched from across the East River.
