Page 48 of Bound to the Enforcer

"Who?" I demand, my heart slamming against my ribs.

"Domenico's reinforcements."

The realization crashes over me like ice water. This was his plan all along. He let us take him, let us drag him this far,knowing his men would come for him. Matteo's betrayal wasn't the end—it was only the beginning.

Domenico's smile grows, his teeth red with blood. "You didn't think I'd come here alone, did you?"

"Get down!" Alessio shouts suddenly, grabbing my arm and pulling me behind a crate just as the first gunshots tear through the warehouse.

The sound is deafening—rapid fire echoing off the steel walls as bullets slam into crates and concrete. Wood splinters above us, shards raining down as I press my back against the crate, gripping my gun with trembling hands.

Alessio crouches beside me, his face tense but calm as he reloads his weapon. "We're boxed in," he says.

"What do we do?" I ask.

"We fight," Alessio replies simply, sliding a new magazine into his gun. "We get out of here."

I glance around the corner of the crate, catching a glimpse of Domenico's men flooding into the warehouse—at least a dozen of them, maybe more. They move like a well-oiled machine, fanning out and firing as they go.

Alessio fires back, dropping two of them before ducking behind cover again. "They're closing in fast. We'll have to split them up."

I nod, adrenaline burning through me like fire as I grip my gun tighter. "What about Domenico?"

Alessio glances over his shoulder, but Domenico is gone. The spot where we left him is empty, the blood-stained concrete the only sign he was ever there.

"Damn it," Alessio curses under his breath.

The rage I've been holding back crashes over me all at once. "He's getting away!"

"Focus!" Alessio snaps, cutting through my anger. "We'll deal with him later. Right now, we survive."

I swallow hard, forcing myself to nod. Alessio gives me a sharp look, his eyes searching mine. "Stay close to me, and don't do anything reckless."

"I won't," I say.

He doesn't believe me, but he doesn't have time to argue. The gunfire grows louder, closer, and I know we only have seconds before they corner us completely.

"Ready?" Alessio asks.

"Ready," I reply, my jaw set.

"On my mark."

He rises to fire another round, and when he shouts, I move.

I dart toward the far end of the warehouse, keeping low as bullets whiz past me, slamming into walls and machinery. I don't stop, don't look back—I just run. My heart pounds, my breaths ragged, but I don't let up.

Domenico's men shout orders, their voices a chaotic blur, but I don't hear them. All I hear is the rush of blood in my ears and the thought repeating over and over in my head:

He's not getting away.

Not again.

Chapter Fourteen

Sophia

The shots ring out, loud and relentless, ricocheting off the walls and echoing through the dark, empty warehouse. I'm not sure where Alessio went, but I don't have time to look. The men Domenico sent are everywhere, flooding the space with gunfire, their shouts filling the air.

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