Chapter 10 - The Federal Siege
Ten minutes later, the unmarked black SUVs of the Moretti syndicate peeled away from the curb of our apartment building, vanishing into the rainy Portland night just as three flashing police cruisers screeched to a halt outside our front entrance.
Inside the leading SUV, the heat hummed against my ankles. Maya had finally fallen asleep against my shoulder, exhausted by the terror of the evening, her small breathing steady and soft. Leo sat on the opposite side of the leather seat, staring out the tinted window as the glittering skyline of downtown Portland loomed closer through the rain-streaked glass.
Luca sat beside me in the dim interior light, his fingers flying across the encrypted laptop screen on his lap, decrypting the security bypass codes Vincenzo had stolen from the fallen tactical operatives.
"We’re fifty yards out," Vincenzo announced from the driver's seat, his eyes flicking constantly to the rearview mirror. "Vance’s private security detail is stationed at the side loading dock of the federal building. It’s going to be tight."
Luca didn't look up from his screen. He slid the laptop closed with a sharp clack, reached down to his hip, and checked the magazine of his sidearm one final time before sliding it back into its leather holster.
He turned his head, looking at me with a steady, unblinking gaze.
"Vivien," Luca said softly, his voice barely audible over the hum of the engine. "Whatever happens inside that building tonight... thank you for keeping my kids safe."
I looked at him—the man I had run from, the man I had misunderstood, the father of my children—and felt the last remaining walls around my heart completely shatter.
May you like
"Just get us inside, Luca," I said, a grim, defiant smile touching the corners of my mouth. "It's time we collect six years of back rent."
The SUV surged forward, accelerating directly toward the iron security gates of the federal building as the rain began to pour harder, washing the slate-gray streets in sheets of silver water.
