Chapter 6 - The Hostage
A brutal hand grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me violently out of the crushed driver's seat.
I screamed in pain as I was thrown onto the wet, freezing asphalt of the empty highway.
Marcus stood over me, panting heavily, a sadistic and victorious smile twisting his scarred face.
"You always were a stubborn, useless woman, Elena," Marcus spat, kicking me hard in the ribs.
I gasped for air, fighting the blinding pain as I desperately tried to crawl back toward the wrecked SUV.
I had to protect little Leo, who was crying loudly in the backseat from the trauma of the crash.
Don Falcone stepped out of his sleek pursuit vehicle, his expensive leather shoes crunching on the broken glass.
He ignored me entirely, walking straight to the backseat of the SUV and unbuckling the screaming baby.
Falcone held Leo up by the fabric of his tiny pajamas, examining the healthy, crying infant with cold calculation.
"You lied to me in the kitchen, little maid," Falcone said smoothly, realizing the baby had never been poisoned.
He pulled his silver revolver and pressed the cold barrel directly against Leo's tiny, fragile head.
My heart completely stopped in my chest, a primal, maternal scream ripping fiercely from my throat.
"Please, don't hurt him!" I begged, dragging my bruised body across the wet pavement to grovel at Falcone's feet.
"I will do anything you want, just let the innocent child live," I pleaded, tears mixing heavily with the rain on my face.
Falcone smiled cruelly, looking down at my pathetic, desperate state with absolute disgust.
"Wake Lorenzo up, and tell him to sign over all of his shipping ports, or I pull the trigger," Falcone commanded.
I scrambled toward the passenger side of the wrecked SUV, shaking Lorenzo's bleeding shoulders frantically.
Lorenzo groaned, his dark eyes fluttering open as he slowly registered the horrific scene unfolding on the highway.
He saw Falcone holding a gun to his son's head, and a terrifying, lethal calmness washed completely over his face.
Lorenzo struggled to step out of the crushed vehicle, leaning heavily against the twisted metal frame to stay upright.
"You win, Falcone," Lorenzo rasped, raising his hands in a gesture of total surrender.
"I will give you my entire empire, just hand the boy over to the woman," Lorenzo offered.
Falcone laughed victoriously, lowering the gun slightly as he prepared to gloat over his ultimate triumph.
May you like
But Falcone did not see Lorenzo secretly slide a small, metallic cylinder from the sleeve of his bloody coat.
Lorenzo pressed a tiny button on the cylinder, and the object began emitting a high-pitched, electronic whine.
