Chapter 4 - The Sins of the Past
David offered me a cruel, familiar smile that made my skin crawl.
"Hello, Clare," he said, wiping the bloody knife on his dark tactical pants.
He looked down at the bleeding enforcer on the floor.
"Your guard dog put up a decent fight," David mocked.
I stared at the man who had ruined my life and left me in crippling debt.
"How are you involved in this?" I demanded.
David laughed, a harsh sound that echoed off the concrete walls.
He explained that the Moretti family paid very well for inside information.
He had sold me out the moment he learned I was working for Sebastian Lombardi.
"You always were a terrible judge of character, Clare," David sneered.
He raised his weapon and aimed it directly at Sebastian's chest.
"Nothing personal, boss," David said to the man in the wheelchair.
Sebastian did not show a single ounce of fear.
He simply pressed a hidden button on the armrest of his custom wheelchair.
A concealed compartment popped open near his right hand.
Before David could pull the trigger, Sebastian drew a secondary weapon and fired twice.
Both bullets struck David in the kneecaps.
My ex-husband screamed in agony and collapsed onto the hard concrete floor.
Sebastian turned to me with cold authority.
"Help Gabriel into the armored SUV," he ordered.
I snapped out of my shock and grabbed Gabriel by the shoulders.
The massive enforcer groaned but managed to help me drag him into the backseat.
I jumped into the driver's seat, my hands shaking violently as I gripped the steering wheel.
Sebastian rolled his chair up the mechanical ramp into the back of the vehicle.
I hit the gas, sending the heavy SUV crashing through the wooden barrier of the garage.
We sped out into the rainy, neon-lit streets of Chicago.
I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Sebastian applying a tourniquet to Gabriel's chest.
"Where do I go?" I asked frantically.
Sebastian gave me the address of a secret safe house located in the industrial district.
As we tore down the empty highway, a burner phone in the center console began to ring.
I answered it and put it on speaker.
It was David, breathing heavily through the pain of his shattered knees.
"You think you won, Clare?" David wheezed.
May you like
He let out a weak, sickening laugh.
"My men are already walking into Oliver's hospital room."
