Chapter 5 - The Crucible of Fire
The heavy flashlight struck the gunman with a sickening crack.
The man stumbled sideways, his shot wildly hitting the ceiling as he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Gabriel spun around instantly, grabbing the dropped pistol from the floor and firing two quick shots into the remaining threats before grabbing Mia by her coat collar and pulling her tightly behind his broad back.
“I told you to stay in the SUV!” Gabriel growled, his chest heaving, his dark hair messy, blood smearing his jawline.
“He was going to shoot you!” Mia gasped, clinging to his tactical vest, her lungs burning.
Gabriel turned around, looking down at her in the dim, flickering red emergency light. For a terrifying second, his expression was fierce, raw, and full of violent adrenaline. Then his eyes softened as he looked at her face—terrified, bruised, yet standing beside him in the middle of a war zone.
“You crazy, incredible woman,” Gabriel whispered, his voice thick with a sudden, overwhelming emotion. He reached up, cupping the back of her head, pulling her forehead against his chest for a brief, fiercely protective second. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” she whispered against his neck, inhaling the dark scent of rain, gunpowder, and his expensive cologne. “I’m fine.”
Below the trailer, the sound of gunfire suddenly ceased.
The radio on Gabriel’s shoulder crackled to life. “Boss,” Marco’s voice came through, heavy and triumphant. “Pier is secure. Sterling’s men are down or captured. We have Sterling.”
Gabriel released Mia slowly, holding her by her shoulders until he was sure her legs were steady. “Stay right here with Marco’s men. I’m finishing this.”
“Gabriel,” Mia said, catching his sleeve. “Don’t do something that will take you away from Leo. He needs his uncle.”
Gabriel stared at her, her words cutting straight through the violent rage that had driven him for the past twelve hours. He raised her hand, pressing a brief, intense kiss to her scraped knuckles. “I’ll be right back.”
Gabriel descended the metal stairs into the foggy dock yard. At the center of the Pier, illuminated by the headlights of four idling SUVs, Damian Sterling was forced to his knees by two heavy enforcers. Sterling was a middle-aged man with sharp features, now bleeding from a gash on his forehead, his custom suit ruined.
Gabriel walked up to him slowly, stopping two feet away. The silence on the pier was deafening.
“You brought a civilian accountant into my city, Gabriel?” Sterling spat, coughing up blood. “You’ve gone soft since Daniel died. Hiding behind women and babies.”
Gabriel didn’t draw a weapon. He looked down at Sterling with absolute, freezing contempt.
“That civilian accountant outsmarted your entire security apparatus, stole your hostage, survived your execution squad, and led you directly into a steel cage,” Gabriel said, his voice carrying clearly across the quiet water. “You didn’t lose to my syndicate, Sterling. You lost to a woman who possessed something you will never understand: courage.”
Gabriel stepped closer, looking into Sterling’s panicked eyes. “You will sign over every commercial asset, shipping license, and property you own in the state of Illinois to a blind trust managed by the Romano foundation. You will spend the rest of your life in a federal facility in Colorado, or I will ensure your name is erased from every record in this country.”
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Sterling paled, realizing that Gabriel wasn't going to make him a martyr—he was going to strip him of everything he was and leave him to rot in absolute obscurity.
“Sign the papers,” Gabriel commanded Marco, turning his back on Sterling without another word.
