Chapter 7 - The King in ChainsNorah called Leo.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Dominic was losing blood.
She forced herself to work.
Pressure.
IV.
Vitals.
Her training mattered now.
Not hypothetically.
A man's life depended on her hands remaining steady.
Forty minutes later, Dominic was stable.
Norah stepped into the stairwell and called again.
Leo finally answered.
“Norah.”
“Where is Gabriel?”
Silence.
“Leo.”
“Warehouse district.”
“Send me the address.”
“No.”
“Send it.”
“Gabriel would kill me.”
“If Gabriel dies, he can't.”
Leo cursed.
Twenty minutes later, Norah was in a car.
The warehouse smelled of rust and river water.
Leo had gathered twelve men.
“They want an exchange,” he explained.
“For what?”
“Elena Russo.”
Norah understood.
Vincent believed his sister-in-law had betrayed him.
“She won't go.”
“She volunteered.”
Elena stepped from another car.
Norah stared.
“You'll die.”
“Perhaps.”
“That's not a plan.”
Elena smiled.
“You sound like Gabriel.”
Norah looked at the warehouse.
“What does Vincent actually want?”
“Respect,” Elena said.
“No.”
Norah shook her head.
“Men like him say respect when they mean control.”
Elena's smile vanished.
Norah continued.
“He wants Gabriel to surrender publicly.”
Leo nodded.
“Exactly.”
“Then don't give him Gabriel.”
Leo frowned.
“What?”
“Give him me.”
Absolutely not.
Everyone said it.
Norah explained.
Vincent's entire war had begun because he believed she was Gabriel's weakness.
Let him believe he had won.
Leo resisted.
Elena understood.
“You want him distracted.”
“Yes.”
Norah entered the warehouse alone.
Vincent Moretti waited.
Gabriel was tied to a chair.
Bruised.
Bleeding.
Alive.
His eyes widened when he saw her.
“No.”
Vincent smiled.
“The famous waitress.”
“I'm a nurse now.”
Gabriel almost laughed despite himself.
Vincent pointed a gun toward her.
Gabriel became still.
“Touch her and I will erase your bloodline.”
Vincent laughed.
Norah kept walking.
“You wanted me.”
“Yes.”
“Then let him go.”
“That's not how negotiations work.”
“No.”
Norah stopped.
“But this isn't a negotiation.”
The lights died.
Leo's men moved.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Norah dropped.
Gabriel threw himself sideways.
Vincent shouted.
Elena appeared through the side entrance.
“Vincent!”
He turned.
That hesitation ended everything.
Leo tackled him.
Minutes later, Moretti's men surrendered.
Gabriel was freed.
He walked directly to Norah.
“What were you thinking?”
“That I was rescuing you.”
“You walked into a warehouse full of armed men.”
“Sounds familiar.”
“I swear to God—”
Norah kissed him.
Gabriel stopped.
Everything stopped.
When she pulled away, he stared.
“That was manipulative.”
“Yes.”
“Do it again.”
She did.
Behind them, Leo looked away.
Elena laughed.
Vincent Moretti was arrested after evidence from Carmine's records linked him to multiple federal crimes.
The Chicago war collapsed without its leadership.
For the first time in months, peace became possible.
May you like
But Norah knew peace and Gabriel Hayes had never lived comfortably together.
The real question was what he would become when he no longer needed war to survive.
