Chapter 10 - The Reckoning at the Docks
The crack of Nico’s sniper rifle shattered the silence of the railyard before Leo could even raise his weapon for a second strike. The bullet caught Leo’s primary enforcer square in the chest, spinning him backward into the side of a shipping container with explosive force.
“Ambush!” someone screamed in the rival camp as automatic gunfire erupted from the elevated catwalks.
Marco and his men rained suppressive fire down upon the incoming vans, shattering windows and blowing out tires before Leo’s crew could even organize a defensive perimeter.
Nico didn't wait for the firefight to settle. He broke cover from the warehouse doorway, sprinting across the open gravel with reckless speed, his rifle firing in short, controlled bursts that picked off two more gunmen flanking the perimeter.
Leo cursed viciously, yanking Norah up by her hair and using her body as a human shield as he dragged her backward toward the shelter of a reinforced shipping container.
“Drop your gun, Moretti!” Leo screamed, pressing the cold steel of his pistol hard against Norah’s temple while blood dripped from a cut on her cheek. “Drop it or she dies right here!”
Nico skidded to a halt thirty paces away, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He lowered his rifle slowly, letting it hit the gravel with a heavy thud, his hands held open at his sides.
“Let her go, Leo,” Nico said, his voice dangerously quiet, radiating a chilling aura of absolute violence. “This is between you and me. She has nothing to do with this.”
“She has everything to do with this!” Leo snarled, his eyes wide and unhinged, spittle flying from his lips. “You took my uncle's territory. You humiliated our family. And you thought you could play house with a civilian like nothing would ever touch you!”
“You wanted my weakness?” Nico took a slow, deliberate step forward, locking his dark eyes directly onto Leo’s. “Here I am. No armor, no tactical backup, no games. Take me.”
Leo’s grip on Norah’s hair tightened, his finger whitening on the trigger.
“With pleasure,” Leo muttered, shifting his aim slightly from Norah’s head to Nico’s chest.
It was the precise opening Norah had been waiting for.
With a sharp, violent twist of her body, Norah stomped her heavy boot down onto Leo’s instep with all her weight while driving her elbow backward into his ribs. Leo let out a sharp gasp of agony, his grip on her hair slipping instantly as he stumbled backward.
Nico didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second. He drew his concealed backup pistol from his shoulder holster with blurring speed and fired a single shot.
The bullet caught Leo squarely in the shoulder, spinning him around and sending his pistol clattering across the gravel. Before the rival leader could hit the ground, Marco and two enforcers swarmed in from the flanks, pinning Leo face-down into the dirt and securing his hands behind his back with heavy zip-ties.
The gunfire faded into a heavy, ringing silence, broken only by the hiss of steam escaping a punctured radiator on one of the enemy vans.
Nico crossed the remaining distance in two strides, dropping to his knees beside Norah as she brushed the dust and gravel off her coat.
“Are you hurt?” Nico asked, his hands trembling slightly as he cupped her face, checking the red mark where Leo had struck her.
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“I’m fine,” Norah breathed, looking up at him with a fierce, unwavering light in her eyes. “I told you... I’m not a hostage.”
Nico let out a ragged breath, pulling her tightly against his chest in front of all his men, burying his face in her hair as the last remnants of his icy armor melted away completely.
