Chapter 9 - The Inferno
A massive wall of blinding orange fire erupted instantly from the center of the warehouse.
The concussive force of the explosion threw Gabriel and Harper violently to the ground.
Thick, toxic black smoke immediately began filling the cavernous building, completely erasing all visibility.
Gabriel scrambled to his feet, coughing heavily as he pulled Harper up by her arm.
He grabbed Noah, lifting the terrified boy completely onto his broad shoulders.
The fire spread with unnatural speed, consuming the wooden pallets and racing toward the roof support beams.
Gabriel yelled for his remaining men to evacuate the building before the entire structure collapsed.
He guided Harper through the blinding smoke, using his deep memory of the warehouse layout to find the emergency exit.
Flames licked hungrily at their heels, the intense heat blistering the exposed skin on their arms.
A burning steel beam groaned loudly above them before snapping completely in half.
Gabriel shoved Harper violently forward just as the massive beam crashed exactly where she had been standing.
They burst through the heavy steel emergency doors, tumbling out into the freezing, fresh air of the Boston night.
Harper collapsed onto the wet pavement, gasping desperately for clean oxygen.
Noah clung to her neck, crying softly but completely unharmed.
Gabriel dropped to his knees beside them, his expensive suit ruined and his face covered in dark soot.
He pulled them both into a fierce, protective embrace, completely ignoring his own burns.
Behind them, the massive warehouse finally caved in on itself with a deafening, spectacular roar.
Derek Lawson was completely incinerated inside, his reign of terror ending forever in the ashes.
The wailing sirens of actual, honest firefighters and federal agents began to echo in the distance.
Gabriel’s loyal lieutenants quickly ushered them into a waiting, undamaged armored SUV.
Gabriel told his men to leave Mrs. Morrison tied up at the gates of the Russian syndicate as a permanent warning.
The SUV sped away into the dark night, leaving the burning wreckage of Harper’s past far behind.
Harper leaned her head against Gabriel’s shoulder, her fractured ribs aching, but her heart feeling completely whole.
She looked at the man who had risked his entire empire just to save a broken maid.
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She finally realized that she was not just a survivor anymore.
She was absolutely untouchable.
