Chapter 5
The gunshots acted like a match dropped into a powder keg. The fragile peace of the grand ballroom instantly detonated into absolute chaos. Guests screamed, diving behind overturned tables and thick marble pillars. The elegant Mafia wedding had transformed into a warzone in the blink of an eye.
"Hold your fire!" Xavier roared, his voice cutting through the panic as he kept his weapon raised, scanning the room for secondary threats. "Nobody moves!"
But the assassin’s death had triggered a failsafe. Among the terrified guests, four more men suddenly drew weapons. They weren't from New York—they were Xavier's own lower-level soldiers, men bought and paid for by Julian’s treachery.
"Take the boss down!" Julian screamed from the floor, spitting blood. "Do it now!"
The traitorous guards opened fire. Bullets chewed through the white marble pillars and shattered the floor-to-ceiling windows, sending cascades of razor-sharp glass raining down on the ballroom floor.
Xavier dove behind the solid brass structure of the overturned dessert cart just as a hail of gunfire shredded the space where he had been standing. Cream-filled pastries and crystal plates exploded around him. His deep ebony face was entirely devoid of fear; his mind was calculating angles and ammunition.
"Vincent! Flank right!" Xavier shouted over the deafening chatter of gunfire.
"I'm on it, Boss!" Vincent yelled back, returning fire from behind a heavy oak dining table.
Xavier popped out from the left side of the cart, his aim terrifyingly steady. He acquired a target—one of his own men, taking aim at Vincent's position. Xavier squeezed the trigger once. The traitor dropped his weapon and crumpled to the floor.
"Julian, you coward!" Xavier barked, reloading his magazine with practiced, mechanical efficiency. "You brought a firing squad into a room with my daughter! You are dead!"
Julian was frantically crawling on his hands and knees through the scattered white petals, trying to reach the heavy oak doors at the front of the ballroom. Caroline was doing the same, sobbing hysterically as bullets whizzed inches above her head, ruining her luxurious formal gown even further.
"Covering fire!" Xavier yelled to his remaining loyalists.
As Vincent and the loyal bodyguards unleashed a suppressive volley, Xavier vaulted over the dessert cart. He moved like a ghost, crossing the open floor with terrifying speed. He tackled the second traitor against the wall, driving his knee brutally into the man’s stomach and disarming him in one fluid motion.
"Two down!" Xavier called out.
But as he turned, he saw the remaining two traitors had abandoned the firefight. They had realized they were outmatched. Instead of fighting Xavier, they kicked open the side doors leading to the residential wing.
May you like
The exact wing where Marcus had taken Zariah.
"No!" Xavier bellowed, his blood running cold. He abandoned his cover entirely and sprinted toward the open doorway, the war for his empire suddenly narrowing down to the life of his little girl.
