Chapter 6 - The Blood in the Rain
The torrential rain plastered my hair to my face as I stood frozen on the long driveway.
Derek's father, Marcus Morrison, cocked his assault rifle with a loud, metallic clack.
"Hand over the bastard child, Emma, and I might let you walk away," Marcus shouted over the storm.
I clutched Mia so tightly she began to cry, her tiny wails piercing the sound of the thunder.
"She is an innocent baby!" I screamed back, stepping backward toward the mansion.
Marcus sneered, raising the barrel of the weapon directly toward my chest.
"She is a Moretti, which makes her a liability to my real estate merger," he spat.
Before he could pull the trigger, the front doors of the mansion blew open behind me.
Luca sprinted out into the rain, wearing no armor, holding only two sleek black handguns.
He did not shout a warning or attempt to negotiate with the armed mercenaries.
He simply opened fire, moving with a lethal, terrifying precision that proved exactly why he was the boss.
Three of Marcus's men dropped to the wet asphalt in the first two seconds.
"Get down, Emma!" Luca roared, throwing his massive body between me and the incoming gunfire.
Bullets shattered the stone statues lining the driveway, sending sharp shrapnel flying through the air.
Luca grabbed my waist and dragged me violently behind a large stone fountain for cover.
I huddled into a tight ball, wrapping my entire body around Mia to shield her from the violence.
Luca stood over us, returning fire with a cold, calculated efficiency that decimated the attackers.
His own guards finally poured out of the mansion, flanking the remaining mercenaries and turning the tide.
Marcus realized he was severely outgunned and sprinted desperately toward his armored van.
Luca stepped out from behind the fountain, taking careful aim at the fleeing billionaire.
A single shot rang out, and Marcus collapsed screaming, grasping his shattered kneecap.
The remaining mercenaries threw down their weapons and surrendered immediately.
Luca slowly lowered his guns, his white shirt now soaked with rain and dark, fresh blood.
He turned to me, his chest heaving, his dark eyes filled with a desperate need to know I was safe.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, dropping to his knees beside us in the mud.
I shook my head, too paralyzed by fear to speak the words.
May you like
Then Luca coughed violently, and I watched in horror as he collapsed forward into the wet grass.
Two bullet holes leaked crimson blood into the back of his white shirt.
