Chapter 3
What followed was a terrifying blur of shadows, flashing muzzle fire, and the deafening roar of automatic weapons echoing through the hollow stone halls of the mansion.
Gabriel moved with terrifying grace.
He pushed Chloe behind a reinforced marble pillar on the upstairs landing, dropped to 1 knee, and fired twice down the stairwell with lethal accuracy.
2 muffled thuds followed as bodies struck the hardwood floor below.
“Clear!” Gabriel shouted over the ringing in Chloe’s ears.
“Boss, they’re coming up the service elevator in the west wing!” Vince yelled from farther down the hall, firing a burst of suppressive fire into the darkness.
Before Gabriel could reposition, a heavy explosion rocked the rear of the mansion.
The concussive blast tore open the doors to the master suite only yards away.
Smoke rolled into the hallway, carrying the choking metallic stench of sulfur and burning timber.
Through the dense haze, 2 massive figures in tactical gear emerged.
Their assault rifles were raised as they scanned the corridor.
One of them spotted Chloe huddled behind the marble pillar.
“There’s the girl. Take the shot.”
He never finished the sentence.
From the shadows of the recovery suite farther down the hall came a terrifying guttural roar that seemed to shake the floorboards.
100 lbs of pure muscle rocketed from the darkness like a gray freight train.
It was Brutus.
Despite his freshly stitched wounds and the severe trauma of the previous night, the massive pit bull launched himself directly at the lead gunman.
With a sickening crunch, Brutus struck the mercenary in the chest, knocking him backward over the balcony railing.
The man crashed onto the foyer floor far below.
The second gunman panicked and swung the barrel of his rifle toward Brutus.
“No, you don’t!” Chloe screamed.
She moved on blind instinct.
Launching herself from behind the pillar, she seized a heavy brass candlestick holder from a nearby side table and brought it down with every ounce of strength she had left, striking the back of the gunman’s helmet.
He staggered forward, dazed.
That was the opening Gabriel needed.
He lunged across the gap, locked an arm around the mercenary’s throat, and dragged him down hard into a brutal chokehold.
Gabriel maintained the hold until the man went limp.
Silence descended over the hallway again.
Only the crackle of a distant fire downstairs and Brutus’s heavy, rhythmic panting disturbed it.
The big dog trotted toward Chloe.
His tail gave a tentative, heavy wag before he pressed his blocky head against her knee.
Chloe dropped to the floor, wrapped both arms around his thick neck, and buried her face in his gray fur.
The adrenaline finally collapsed beneath her.
She began shaking from head to toe.
Gabriel stepped over the unconscious attacker and walked slowly toward them.
He knelt beside Chloe on the blood-spattered floor, his dark eyes burning with a fierce, possessive intensity that eclipsed everything else in the room.
He reached for her, gently pulled her away from Brutus, and drew her into his arms.
Gabriel held her so tightly against his chest that Chloe could feel the violent, rapid beating of his heart.
“You saved him again,” Gabriel whispered.
His voice was rough with an emotion he rarely allowed the world to see.
“And then you saved me.”
“Your dog is stubborn,” Chloe managed to say with a shaky, breathless laugh mixed with tears of relief. “I guess I am, too.”
Gabriel pulled back only far enough to look into her eyes.
Outside, the storm continued battering the shattered windows.
Inside the ruins of his fortress, the world seemed to narrow to the 2 of them.
“Moretti is finished,” Gabriel said quietly.
His thumb traced the line of Chloe’s jaw, his gaze unwavering.
“And Reynolds will pay for what he did. But you, Chloe, you are never leaving this estate. You walked into my life covered in blood, and you carved your name into my soul. You belong to me now, body, mind, and soul.”
Chloe did not pull away.
Instead, she leaned into his touch and wrapped her arms around his neck as Gabriel drew her into a possessive kiss that sealed her fate.
She had entered the veterinary clinic 2 years deep in debt and invisible to the world.
Now she stood within the inner sanctum of the most feared man in Chicago, knowing with absolute certainty that she would never want to escape.
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That night on Damen Avenue had changed everything.
Disclaimer: This story is fictional and created for entertainment purposes only. Any names, characters, places, or events are fictitious or used fictitiously. No real person or organization is intended to be portrayed.
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