Page 29 of Lured By the Cartel

"First, Lucas leaves with my driver," I stated. "He's waiting downstairs. Once I get confirmation he's safe, I'll initiate the transfer."

Giovanni laughed. "You think I'm stupid? He stays until I say so."

I shrugged, slipping the phone back into my pocket. "Then we have nothing to discuss." I turned as if to leave, counting silently in my head. Three. Two. One.

"Wait!" Giovanni called out, just as I knew he would. Greed always made men predictable. "Maybe... we can work something out."

I turned back slowly, raising an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"Half the money now, half when we release him."

I pretended to consider this, though my attention was actually on the slight vibration of my phone—the signal that my men were in position. The hospital's security cameras had been under our control for the past ten minutes, feeding false footage to Giovanni's surveillance team.

"Deal," I agreed, pulling out my phone again. "I'll need to make a call to authorize the transfer."

As I dialed, I watched Giovanni's men relax slightly. Amateur mistake. The number I called wasn't my banker - it was the trigger for our operation.

In a blink, the lights went out.

In the chaos that followed, I moved with practiced precision. The darkness was no hindrance—my men and I had memorized the layout of this floor before coming. I heard Giovanni cursing, his men shouting in confusion. The emergency lights kicked in, bathing everything in a dim red glow, but by then I was already at Lucas's side, cutting through his restraints with the knife I'd concealed in my sleeve.

This was risky but worth it.

"Hold onto me," I whispered in his ear, feeling him grip my jacket tightly. I knew he was going to hold onto me as if it were the last thing he did.

The sound of gunfire erupted from the floor below—my distraction team engaging Giovanni's perimeter guards. In the confusion, I guided Lucas toward the service elevator my men had secured earlier. I heard Giovanni shouting orders, trying to regain control of the situation. He never thought that this was going to happen.

"Stop them!" Giovanni's voice rang out, but it was too late.

The service elevator opened right on cue, and two of my most trusted men were inside with weapons ready. I pushed Lucas in first, shielding him with my body as we descended. I would give my life for him if need be.

"Boss," one of my men spoke up. "Secondary team reports the route is clear. You can proceed without worry."

I nodded, holding Lucas close as the elevator reached the basement level. We moved swiftly through the underground parking area where a decoy ambulance waited. Standard hospital protocol during a power outage would have all elevators shut down—except this one, which we'd rigged to operate independently. We couldn't rely on luck when we were making plans for this.

"What about Giovanni?" Lucas asked as we settled into the ambulance.

"He'll run," I replied, knowing the coward's playbook by heart. "He'll use the chaos to slip away, thinking he's clever." I pulled Lucas closer, checking him for injuries. "But he forgot something important—I let him run."

The ambulance pulled out of the parking garage, merging seamlessly with the actual emergency vehicles responding to the hospital's power outage and the shooting. Through my earpiece, I heard confirmation that Giovanni had indeed escaped through his planned route—the same route I'd purposely left open for him.

Perhaps we would see each other again. For now, he wasn't a concern anymore.

"You knew," Lucas said, realization dawning in his eyes. "You knew he'd try to run."

I smiled, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Of course. And now he thinks he's outsmarted us, which makes him predictable. He'll go to ground, use his emergency protocols, contact hisusual allies." I paused, satisfaction coursing through me. "All of which we've been monitoring since before he even took you."

The ambulance turned onto the highway, heading toward one of my safe houses. Giovanni would learn soon enough that his escape was just another part of my plan. Every ally he'd reach out to, every safehouse he'd try to use—all compromised. But that was a problem for another day.

Right now, all that mattered was that Lucas was safe in my arms, and Giovanni had just made the last mistake he'd ever make in this business.

The tension finally left my shoulders as we pulled through the gates of my estate. Lucas was safe, tucked against my side, and that's all that mattered. I could feel his exhaustion through our bond, his body trembling slightly from the ordeal. I wished I could do more, but for now, this was all I could do.

"Let's get you inside," I murmured, helping him out of the car. My security detail immediately formed a protective circle around us as we walked toward the main entrance.

That's when Antonio came running down the steps, his face grim. I knew that look—bad news.

"Boss," he called out, slightly out of breath. "We've got trouble in the Eastern District. The Albanians are making a move on our territory. Three of our men are down, two dead."

---