Chapter 15 - The Target on Her Back
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Marcus didn't wait for the execution order.
With the desperation of a cornered animal, Marcus grabbed a heavy champagne bottle from a passing waiter and hurled it directly at the chandelier above Dante and Lena.
The massive crystal fixture shattered, raining glass and plunging the center of the ballroom into darkness.
“Get him!” Dante roared, instinctively wrapping his body around Lena to shield her from the falling shards. His legs finally gave out, and they crashed to the floor together in a tangle of limbs and red velvet.
Gunfire erupted as Marcus’s loyalists created a violent distraction, firing wildly into the ceiling and the crowd. Panic consumed the gala. Billionaires and mobsters screamed, diving for cover under catering tables.
“Lena! Are you hit?” Dante yelled, pulling her tightly against his chest in the darkness.
“No, I’m okay!” she gasped, her ears ringing from the gunfire.
Dante’s security team swarmed them, forming a human shield around the fallen boss.
“Marcus went down the service stairs, Boss!” the head of security shouted over the chaos.
“Lock down the building!” Dante commanded, struggling to pull himself back into his overturned wheelchair with the help of his men. “He doesn't leave the Pelican alive!”
But Marcus wasn't trying to leave the hotel. He knew he couldn't outrun Dante’s men on the streets. He needed leverage. And as the backup lights flickered on, illuminating the terrified crowd, Marcus realized exactly what his leverage was.
Dante had stood up because of the maid. She was his cure. She was his weakness.
In the confusion, as Dante was being hoisted into his chair, a heavy hand grabbed Lena’s arm from the shadows of the service corridor.
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Before she could scream, a cloth smelling of bitter chemicals was clamped over her nose and mouth. She kicked wildly, her heels striking the wall, but the attacker was too strong. The edges of her vision blurred, black spots dancing in the dim light.
The last thing Lena saw before she lost consciousness was Dante’s terrified face turning toward her, screaming her name as she was dragged into the dark.
