88The Poor Maid’s Baby Crawled Into the Mafia Boss’s Office, and His Next Decision Put a Target on All Three of Them

The lights in the grand penthouse flickered once and died completely, plunging the fourteen-floor luxury residence into shadows, lit only by the red emergency lights along the baseboards and the lightning flashing through the glass windows.

Thunder roared across Manhattan, shaking the reinforced glass.

Gabriel stood in the center of the dark living room, holding a heavy tactical rifle. Lucian stood twenty feet away near the grand staircase, his weapons trained on the heavy double mahogany doors leading to the private elevator foyer.

The heavy iron door of the emergency stairwell was violently blown off its hinges with a deafening explosion of dust and steel.

Eight men in heavy tactical armor carrying automatic shotguns surged into the foyer, led by Julian Moretti—Dominic’s younger, more vicious brother.

"Find the girl!" Julian roared, his voice echoing off the high marble ceilings. "Find the maid and the baby! Dominic wants them alive! Kill anyone else who stands in the way!"

Gabriel didn't wait for them to scatter.

He stepped out from behind a marble pillar, raising his tactical rifle.

The smooth, rhythmic THUD-THUD-THUD of suppressed fire shattered the dark room.

Three of Julian’s men collapsed instantly onto the marble floor, their tactical armor useless against Gabriel’s specialized armor-piercing rounds.

"Ambush!" Julian screamed, diving behind a velvet sofa as Lucian opened fire from the upper balcony, dropping two more mercenaries in a hail of precision shots.

The grand living room transformed into a chaotic warzone. Muzzle flashes illuminated the expensive oil paintings, shattering glass cases, and shredding expensive curtains as Julian’s remaining men blindly returned fire toward the balcony.

Gabriel moved through the shadows like a ghost born of the city’s dark alleys. He knew every inch of his penthouse—every pillar, every corner, every shadow.

He flanked the remaining two guards hiding behind the marble fireplace. He stepped up behind them, fired twice at point-blank range, and kicked their weapons across the floor before they even realized he was there.

In less than ninety seconds, seven of Julian’s eight men were neutralized.

Julian Moretti scrambled backward across the blood-stained rug, frantically trying to reload his empty pistol as he backed toward the shattered elevator doors.

A heavy leather boot came down on Julian’s wrist, pinning his hand against the floor with crushing force.

Julian shrieked in pain, dropping his pistol. He looked up, his face pale with utter terror as he stared into the dark, lethal face of Gabriel Marlowe standing above him in the flickering red light.

Gabriel bent down, grabbing Julian by his lapels, and dragged the massive mobster to his feet as if he weighed nothing at all. He slammed Julian violently against the floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking the storm-swept skyline of 5th Avenue.

"You came into my home, Julian," Gabriel whispered, his voice smooth, terrifying, and devoid of all human mercy. "You brought guns near a child."

Julian gasped for air, his blood smearing against the cold glass behind him. "Marlowe... wait! Dominic sent me! It was Dominic’s idea! He wanted to use the maid to force you into giving up the piers!"

"Dominic made a mistake," Gabriel said softly, adjusting his grip on Julian’s throat. "He thought I cared about the piers."

Gabriel reached into his coat, pulled out his satellite phone, and dialed a pre-programmed number on speakerphone. He held the phone near Julian’s face.

The call connected on the second ring.

"Julian?" Dominic Moretti’s anxious voice came through the speaker. "Did you get them? Is Marlowe dead?"

Gabriel spoke into the phone, his voice as cold as ice. "Dominic."

Silence—absolute and heavy—fell over the line.

"Marlowe..." Dominic gasped, his voice suddenly trembling. "Where is my brother?"

"He’s currently resting against my window on the fourteenth floor, Dominic," Gabriel said smoothly. "And he’s about to give you a message."

Gabriel brought his heavy weapon up and struck Julian violently across the jaw with the metal butt of the rifle. Julian let out a agonizing scream that echoed clearly through the phone line.

"Listen to me, Moretti," Gabriel growled into the phone. "You have one hour to vacate your compound in Brooklyn. You take your family, you take your money, and you leave New York forever. If you are still in this city at midnight... I won't send my men. I will hunt down every person who carries your name myself."