Chapter 9 - The ExchangeThe Union Stockyards had been dead for decades, but at night the abandoned industrial corridors still looked haunted by everything Chicago had tried to forget.
Rusting structures.
Broken windows.
Rail lines disappearing beneath weeds.
Dark brick buildings standing beneath orange streetlights.
Moretti had chosen a slaughterhouse.
Chloe understood the message.
Gabriel’s vehicles stopped four blocks away.
“No visible convoy,” Vince said.
“We have shooters positioned east and west.”
Gabriel checked his weapon.
“Police?”
“Bought off or redirected.”
“Of course.”
Chloe wore body armor beneath a dark jacket.
Three USB drives sat inside her pocket.
Gabriel turned toward her.
“This is the last chance.”
“No.”
“You don’t know what I was going to say.”
“You were going to tell me to stay behind.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“Chloe.”
“My sister sees me, or there is no exchange.”
“That makes you the target.”
“I’m already the target.”
Gabriel looked away.
She touched his hand.
“I’ll stay beside you.”
He looked back.
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
“And if I tell you to run?”
“I run.”
He studied her, perhaps wondering whether she meant it.
Then he pulled her toward him.
The kiss was sudden.
Hard.
Desperate.
Not possession.
Fear.
When he pulled away, Chloe could barely breathe.
“What was that?”
“In case you ignore me.”
She touched his jaw.
“I probably will.”
“I know.”
They walked into the stockyard together.
Vince followed several yards behind.
A single floodlight illuminated the central building.
Moretti’s men stood along an elevated platform.
At the center sat Madison.
Her wrists were tied.
A bruise marked her cheek.
But she was alive.
“Chloe!”
Chloe moved forward.
Gabriel caught her.
“Easy.”
A man stepped from the shadows.
Salvatore Moretti.
He was older than Gabriel.
Perhaps forty-five.
Silver touched his dark hair.
He wore a black overcoat and leather gloves.
He looked less like a gangster than a university professor.
That made him more frightening.
“Gabriel Costa.”
“Salvatore.”
Moretti smiled.
“You brought the veterinarian.”
“You asked for the ledger.”
“I asked her.”
Chloe looked at him.
“Let my sister go.”
“After I verify the drives.”
“You get them after Madison crosses the floor.”
Moretti laughed.
“You think you are negotiating?”
“Yes.”
His smile disappeared.
“You have no position.”
Chloe pulled one drive from her pocket.
Then held it above a drainage channel filled with rainwater.
Moretti’s face changed.
“Careful.”
“There.”
Chloe smiled.
“That looks like a position.”
Gabriel glanced toward her.
Pride flickered in his eyes.
Moretti raised a hand.
One guard cut Madison’s restraints.
“Halfway.”
Madison stood.
She stumbled.
Chloe’s heart twisted.
“Walk,” Moretti ordered.
Madison started forward.
When she reached the center of the floor, Moretti raised his hand again.
She stopped.
“Drive one.”
Chloe tossed it.
One of Moretti’s men caught it.
He inserted it into a laptop.
“Encrypted,” the man said.
Moretti smiled.
“Of course.”
“Each drive needs the others,” Chloe said.
“Your father always loved games.”
“You knew him.”
“I knew his weaknesses.”
“His family?”
Moretti smiled.
“His conscience.”
Gabriel moved slightly closer to Chloe.
Moretti noticed.
“Interesting.”
His eyes traveled between them.
“Matteo Costa’s son falling for David Harper’s daughter.”
He laughed.
“Your fathers would appreciate the irony.”
“Madison walks,” Chloe said.
Moretti nodded.
Madison came another ten yards.
“Second.”
Chloe tossed the drive.
Again, the technician checked it.
“Valid.”
Moretti gestured.
Madison walked.
She was close now.
Twenty feet.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Chloe could see tears on her face.
“Third,” Moretti said.
“No.”
His expression hardened.
“She crosses first.”
“That wasn’t our arrangement.”
“That’s my arrangement.”
Moretti raised his hand.
A rifle lifted toward Madison.
Gabriel’s voice became lethal.
“Lower that weapon.”
Moretti smiled.
“Or what?”
“Or everyone you brought here dies.”
“You always did inherit Matteo’s arrogance.”
“And you inherited Antonio’s stupidity.”
Moretti’s smile disappeared.
Gabriel continued.
“You think we came alone?”
Moretti looked around.
“Your shooters are surrounded.”
A radio crackled.
Then another.
Moretti’s men began looking at one another.
Gabriel smiled.
“Vince has spent fifteen years learning every tunnel beneath this district.”
Moretti glanced toward his guards.
That tiny distraction was enough.
Madison ran.
“Now!” Gabriel shouted.
Gunfire erupted.
Chloe sprinted toward her sister.
Gabriel fired over her shoulder.
Madison crashed into Chloe’s arms.
They hit the floor together.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Can you run?”
“Yes.”
“Then run.”
Chloe pulled Madison behind a concrete barrier.
Bullets struck metal.
Sparks exploded.
Vince appeared beside them.
“This way!”
They moved toward a service corridor.
Then Chloe stopped.
“Gabriel.”
He was still on the main floor.
Moretti had retreated to the upper platform.
Gabriel followed.
“Chloe!” Madison screamed.
“I promised I would run.”
“So run!”
“But not without him.”
She turned.
Vince caught her.
“You go back there, he’ll kill me himself.”
“Then help him.”
“He told me to get you out.”
A gunshot echoed above.
Chloe saw Gabriel stagger.
Her heart stopped.
“Gabriel!”
She broke free.
Vince cursed and followed.
Gabriel pressed one hand against his side.
Blood appeared between his fingers.
Moretti stood several yards away.
“You always were sentimental,” Moretti said.
Gabriel raised his gun.
So did Moretti.
Chloe reached the stairs.
“Gabriel!”
Moretti looked toward her.
Wrong choice.
Gabriel fired.
The bullet struck Moretti’s shoulder.
He dropped his weapon.
Gabriel advanced.
Moretti laughed through the pain.
“You won’t kill me.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s watching.”
Gabriel stopped.
Chloe reached the platform.
Moretti smiled at her.
“Ask him how many men he has killed.”
“Shut up.”
“Ask him whether you can turn a wolf into a husband.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
The word hung there.
Husband.
Moretti laughed.
“You think he loves you?”
Chloe stepped closer.
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked at her.
Moretti’s face hardened.
“You’re a fool.”
“Probably.”
She looked at Gabriel.
“But he saved my life.”
“Because he wants to own you.”
“No.”
Moretti shook his head.
“You know nothing about men like us.”
“I know enough.”
Chloe moved beside Gabriel.
“Men like you use fear because nobody chooses you willingly.”
Moretti’s eyes darkened.
“Gabriel doesn’t have that problem.”
Moretti lunged.
Everything happened at once.
He pulled a knife from beneath his coat.
Gabriel shoved Chloe aside.
The blade struck him beneath the ribs.
Gabriel grunted.
Vince fired.
Moretti staggered backward.
His heel slipped on the wet metal platform.
For one suspended second, he balanced at the edge.
Then he fell.
The drop was nearly thirty feet.
He struck the concrete below and did not move.
Silence.
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
Blood covered his shirt.
“No.”
His knees buckled.
She caught him.
“Gabriel.”
“I’m fine.”
“You have a knife in your abdomen.”
“Minor detail.”
“Don’t you dare make jokes.”
He smiled weakly.
“You sound angry.”
“I am.”
She lowered him carefully.
Vince arrived.
“We need a hospital.”
“No public hospital,” Gabriel said.
Chloe examined the wound.
“Blade is still in place. Good.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
“Good?”
“It may be preventing worse bleeding.”
Madison appeared beside them.
“Oh my God.”
“Pressure here,” Chloe instructed.
Madison obeyed immediately.
Gabriel looked at Chloe.
“You saved her.”
“We saved her.”
“You had the drives.”
Chloe froze.
The third drive.
Still inside her pocket.
Moretti had only received two.
Gabriel understood.
“He never got the ledger.”
“No.”
Vince smiled grimly.
“Then tonight wasn’t a complete disaster.”
Chloe glared at him.
“Your boss is bleeding.”
“Right.”
They carried Gabriel toward the vehicles.
His private medical team met them at the underground facility.
Two hours passed.
Chloe refused to leave the hallway.
Madison sat beside her, wrapped in a blanket.
“You love him,” Madison said.
Chloe stared at the floor.
“Yes.”
“That was fast.”
“Trust me. I know.”
“He’s terrifying.”
“Yes.”
“He has approximately fifty armed men.”
“Probably more.”
“And a secret underground bunker.”
“Yes.”
Madison considered.
“Mom would hate this.”
Chloe laughed through tears.
“She would.”
The operating-room door opened.
A doctor emerged.
“He’s stable.”
Chloe stood.
“The blade missed major vessels. He lost blood, but he’ll recover.”
Relief almost knocked her down.
She entered his room.
Gabriel lay pale beneath white sheets.
For once, he looked human.
Vulnerable.
His eyes opened.
“You came back.”
Chloe sat beside him.
“Obviously.”
“You were supposed to run.”
“I did.”
“Toward me.”
“You didn’t specify direction.”
His eyes closed.
“I need better rules.”
“You need fewer rules.”
He reached for her hand.
“Moretti?”
“Dead.”
“Luca?”
“In custody.”
“Madison?”
“Safe.”
Gabriel exhaled.
Then he looked at her.
“And you?”
Chloe squeezed his hand.
“I’m still here.”
His thumb moved across her fingers.
“Why?”
She knew what he was asking.
Not why she was in the room.
Why she was still in his life.
Chloe leaned closer.
“Because you were wrong.”
“About?”
“I don’t belong to you.”
A shadow crossed his face.
She smiled.
“But I might choose you.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
Hope looked strange on him.
Beautiful.
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It probably is.”
He pulled her hand toward his lips.
“Chloe Harper.”
“Yes?”
“I think you may be the most dangerous thing that has ever happened to me.”
May you like
She smiled.
“Good.”
