Chapter 7 - THE RIVAL'S LAST MOVE
The party began to wind down around midnight. Rachel and her new husband left through a shower of sparklers, leaving the remaining guests to filter out into the cool Chicago night.
Luca walked me through the quiet executive parking garage beneath the hotel, his hand firmly holding mine.
"I'm driving you home," he said, pressing a button on his key fob. A sleek, black armored sedan flashed its lights fifty feet away.
"Luca," I said, stopping beside a concrete pillar. "Are we going to pretend tomorrow morning that this was just a wedding?"
Luca stopped, turning to face me. "No, Mara. Tomorrow morning, you're packing your things from your apartment and moving into my estate."
I gasped, a mixture of shock and excitement washing over me. "Excuse me? Moving in? Isn't that a bit fast?"
"I gave you eighteen months of space," Luca said, taking a step toward me. "My patience is officially exhausted."
Suddenly, the harsh screech of tires echoed through the quiet underground garage.
A silver SUV tore around the corner, its high beams blinding us as it sped directly toward where we were standing.
"Luca!" I screamed.
In one fluid motion, Luca grabbed me around the waist and threw both of us behind the heavy concrete pillar. A second later, the SUV slammed into the side of Luca's parked sedan with a deafening crunch of metal and glass.
Gunfire immediately erupted from the SUV’s open windows, bullets chipping away at the concrete above our heads.
Luca didn't flinch. He drew his weapon, shielding my body entirely with his own against the pillar.
"Stay down!" he commanded, his eyes burning with lethal precision.
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He leaned around the pillar, firing three rapid, perfectly aimed shots. The SUV’s front tires blew out with loud pops, and the driver lost control, crashing the vehicle into a structural wall thirty feet away.
The garage descended into dead silence, save for the hiss of radiator steam leaking from the wrecked SUV.