Chapter 3: The Lone Ranger
“Now, Dom, let’s be entirely reasonable here,” Rick said, quickly recovering his false bravado as his security guards unholstered their weapons, pointing them directly at Nicholas’s chest.
Rick took a slow puff of his cigar, trying to project total control. “Things changed drastically while you were locked away in Colorado. The street families needed stability. The Colombians needed a massive financial guarantee to keep the ports open. And Mia… well, Mia needed a strong hand.”
Rick smirked, stepping behind his wall of guards. “She’s going to marry my Bradley next month. It unites the syndicate bloodlines perfectly. It’s just good business, Nicholas.”
“She’s a Costello,” Nicholas growled, taking a slow, deliberate step forward, completely ignoring the guns aimed at his heart. “She doesn’t marry a rat’s offspring.”
“She’s a nobody!” Rick spat, his true colors finally showing through his sophisticated façade. “You’re a ghost, Nicholas! You have no power left in this city. The street capos answer to me now. The judges answer to me. If you had just stayed in your concrete cell, I would have let you live out your days. But now, you’re trespassing on my property.”
Rick snapped his fingers sharply at his men. “Put him down. Make it look like a home invasion.”
The four guards raised their suppressed pistols, aligning their sights with Nicholas’s head.
“Drop the guns. Right now.”
A sharp, commanding voice rang out from the kitchen doorway. Everyone in the room turned instantly.
Standing there was a young man in his late twenties, dressed in the dark tactical gear of the Dawson estate’s private security force. But his weapon wasn’t aimed at Nicholas. His Glock 19 was pressed directly against the temple of Rick’s lead security guard.
This was Liam Gallagher.
Liam had been hired by the Dawsons two years ago—a former Army Ranger with a flawless military record. But what Rick Dawson didn’t know was that for the last eighteen months, Liam was the only reason Mia Costello was still breathing.
When Mia had been locked in the dark, freezing cellar, it was Liam who had smuggled her bread and antibiotics. When Bradley had tried to force his way into the servants’ quarters late at night, Liam had covertly redirected the guard patrol routes to ensure he was always standing right outside her door, risking his own life to deter the boss’s son.
In the shadows of the estate’s sprawling gardens, amidst the cruelty of her horrific reality, a desperate, fierce romance had secretly blossomed between the fallen heiress and the quiet tactical guard. Liam had been secretly siphoning small amounts of money from the estate’s secondary accounts for months, securing fake passports. They were supposed to run away to Vancouver in exactly three days.
“Liam, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Rick demanded, his face purpling with sudden rage. “Shoot the old man! That’s a direct order!”
“My contract was to protect the actual assets of this estate, Rick,” Liam said coldly, his piercing blue eyes flicking momentarily to Mia. The raw, unspoken love and desperation in that single glance told Nicholas everything he needed to know. “And she is the only thing in this godforsaken house worth protecting.”
“You’re a dead man, Gallagher!” Rick screamed.
“Maybe,” Liam replied, his hand never wavering as he held the guard hostage. He looked directly at Nicholas. “Mr. Costello, I’ve got three flashbangs on my belt and an armored sedan parked around the back. But there are fifteen more armed men on the perimeter fence. How do you want to play this?”
Nicholas looked at the young guard, carefully assessing his tactical stance, his iron grip, and the fierce protectiveness radiating from him toward Mia. He then looked back at Rick Dawson, a cold, empty smile spreading across his scarred face.
“Do you honestly think I drove up here without making a few phone calls first, Rick?” Nicholas said softly.
Right on cue, the deafening, bone-rattling roar of a heavy-caliber sniper rifle shattered the reinforced glass of the sunroom’s bay window.
The lead guard next to Liam dropped heavily to the floor, his weapon clattering uselessly against the marble.
Nicholas calmly adjusted his cuffs. “I want my daughter. And then, I want my city back.”
When an entire syndicate betrays you and enslaves your child, a standard mob war isn’t enough. You have to burn the system to the ground. Would you trust Liam to protect Mia while Nicholas exacts his revenge?
