Chapter 9 - The Reckoning
Rhett rushed across the warehouse floor, ignoring the remaining gunfire behind him as his men secured the area.
He dropped to his knees beside Lena’s chair, pulling a knife from his belt and slicing through her ropes in a fraction of a second.
"Lena! Lena, are you hurt?" he asked frantically, his hands trembling as he checked her face, her neck, her arms.
"I'm okay, Rhett," she sobbed, throwing her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. "I'm okay..."
Rhett pulled her tight against his chest, holding her as if he would never let go, his chest heaving with heavy breaths. "I thought I lost you... God, Lena, I thought I lost you..."
Behind them, Leo Castiglione was dragging his bloody body across the floor toward a side door, groaning in agony.
Frank, Rhett's lieutenant, stepped over Leo, pointing his rifle at the man's head. "What about him, boss?"
Rhett stood up slowly, keeping one arm firmly wrapped around Lena’s waist. He turned to look down at the bleeding, defeated crime boss who had terrorized the South Side for a decade.
"Take him to the docks," Rhett ordered coldly. "And tell his family that the Castiglione name no longer exists in Chicago."
"No! Moretti, please!" Leo begged, coughing up blood. "It was just business!"
"Business ended the moment you touched her," Rhett said, turning his back on the man as Frank’s team dragged Leo away into the dark, snowy night.
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Rhett turned back to Lena, lifting her gently into his arms as if she weighed nothing at all.
"Let's go home," he whispered against her ear.
