"He Knocked a Waitress Unconscious in Front of Everyone—Then the Mafia Boss Stood Up and Locked the Doors / Chapter 53 / 60

Chapter 53 - The Siege of Lower Manhattan

The harbor was a landscape of hell.

Thick, black smoke billowed from the burning automated crane terminals, blotting out the morning sun. High-velocity tracer rounds arced across the grey waters, slicing through the mist like ribbons of fire. Every few seconds, another shipping container on the outer pier exploded, showering the harbor in twisted shrapnel.

From the bunker’s periscope screen, I watched in terror as a swarm of black tactical speedboats launched from the Consortium's destroyers, skimming across the waves straight toward our subterranean entrance.

"They found the bunker's exhaust vents," Miller shouted, racking the bolt of an automatic shotgun. "Major, we have breach teams coming in from the seawall! Thirty men, advanced night-vision, full body armor!"

Silas didn't blink. He calmly adjusted the straps on his combat gloves. "Let them breach."

"Silas, no!" I stepped in front of him, grabbing his arm. My fingers curled into the rough ballistic nylon of his vest. "You can't fight an entire army by yourself! What happens to Clara if you die out there? What happens to me?"

Silas stopped. He looked down at my hands clutching his vest, then slowly raised his gaze to meet mine. For the first time since that bloody night in the diner, the ice in his eyes thawed into something raw, fierce, and overwhelmingly protective.

He reached up, cupping my cheek with his calloused, battle-hardened hand.

"Elena, listen to me," he murmured, his voice low and intensely steady. "Before you walked into my life, I was a dead man waiting for a war to finish me off. I didn't care who burned the city down. But you brought Clara into my world. You gave me something that doesn't smell like gunpowder or treason."

He leaned in, pressing his forehead against mine. "I am not going to die. I’m going to turn this bay into their tomb, and when the sun sets, you and Clara will never have to run from anyone ever again."

Before I could answer, the heavy steel reinforced doors at the end of the corridor buckled under the blast of a breaching charge.

*BOOM!*

Dust and concrete fragments rained from the ceiling. Silas pushed me behind a reinforced pillar, spun around with inhuman speed, and raised his rifle.