Chapter 10 - The False Victory
They tore through the wooden door of the warehouse office.
Bull smashed his heavy boots through the rotting floorboards, revealing a dark, circular storm drain.
"Ladies first!" Bull shouted, lifting the heavy iron cover.
Dorian practically threw Claire down into the damp, echoing pipe.
Petra and Bull jumped in immediately after her.
Wade scrambled to follow, but Dorian grabbed him by the collar and shoved him down the hole with brutal force.
Dorian was the last one to jump, pulling the iron cover shut over his head.
Three seconds later, the warehouse above them exploded with apocalyptic fury.
The shockwave violently rattled the concrete pipe, showering them with dust and freezing water.
They crawled in total darkness for twenty minutes until they reached a drainage outlet near the river.
Dorian pushed the exit grate open, and they stumbled out onto the muddy riverbank.
They were soaked, bruised, and exhausted, but they were alive.
Within an hour, Dorian's heavily armed loyalists arrived to secure the area.
They threw a weeping, pathetic Wade into the back of a van to be handed over to the police.
Dorian escorted Claire back to the luxurious penthouse, where Maddie was still sleeping peacefully.
"The Morettis failed," Dorian told Claire softly in the quiet living room.
"My men just raided their main headquarters and drove their leadership entirely out of the city."
Claire let out a long, shuddering breath of profound relief.
She looked around the beautiful, secure penthouse, finally believing the nightmare was over.
"I promise to rebuild Pearl's Corner Cafe exactly the way it was," Dorian swore, gently touching her cheek.
Claire smiled, a genuine, hopeful smile, and leaned slightly into his warm touch.
They had won the war, and her family was finally safe.
Suddenly, Dorian's satellite phone buzzed urgently in his pocket.
He answered it, expecting a final victory report from his street captains.
Instead, the voice on the other end belonged to his top lieutenant, who sounded absolutely terrified.
"Boss, the Morettis didn't plant the bombs at the warehouse or burn down the cafe," the lieutenant gasped.
"It was an inside job orchestrated by someone in your own inner circle to usurp your throne."
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Dorian’s blood turned to ice as he slowly turned his head.
Standing directly behind Claire and the sleeping Maddie was Petra, aiming a suppressed pistol squarely at Dorian’s heart.
