Chapter 5 - The Snake at the GateAt 2:00 AM, the peaceful night over the Greenwich estate was shattered by the sharp, metallic sound of automatic gate override alarms.
Outside the grand stone entrance, three dark armored sedans crashed through the perimeter security barriers, their tires spinning wildly over the gravel driveway.
Ten armed mercenaries dressed in dark tactical gear flooded onto the front lawn, led by a tall, silver-haired man in an expensive wool coat holding a silver cane.
Richard Sterling—the billionaire CEO of Sterling Global and the man who had destroyed my sister's life.
Inside the master nursery, the emergency red lights flashed silently against the cream walls.
I held nine-month-old Leo securely against my chest, wrapping a heavy wool blanket around his body, my heart hammering like a trapped bird against my ribs.
Dante stood near the nursery door, wearing a dark tactical vest, holding a suppressed sidearm in his broad hand. His face was carved from stone, his gray eyes burning with a dark, lethal fire that made the air in the room feel like liquid iron.
"Stay inside the safe room with Julianne, Elina," Dante commanded softly, stepping close to me, pressing his hand against the back of my neck, leaning down to press a deep, sweet, fierce kiss against my lips. "No one gets through this door."
"Dante... please be careful," I whimpered, clutching his shirt with my free hand.
Dante offered a rare, razor-sharp smile that held zero fear.
"They came to my house, Elina," Dante whispered, his voice smooth and cold as steel. "They are not leaving."
He turned, stepping out into the dark hallway, as Leo and the estate security team engaged the mercenaries on the floor below.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
Suppressed rounds echoed through the grand marble foyer downstairs as Dante moved with surgical, terrifying precision, clearing the ground floor in three minutes.
Standing in the center of the ruined foyer, surrounded by his fallen mercenaries, stood Richard Sterling, his hands shaking as he aimed a silver pistol toward the grand staircase.
"Dante!" Sterling shrieked hysterically, sweat pouring down his face. "Where is the girl?! Give her to me! She has Isabella's legal proxies! If she signs those trust deeds over to the state, my firm will fall!"
Dante walked down the marble staircase with slow, deliberate, terrifying steps, his suppressed sidearm held at his side.
"You separated two infant sisters nineteen years ago for money, Sterling," Dante spoke, his baritone booming through the silent foyer like thunder. "You murdered my wife eight months ago to hide your fraud. And tonight... you walked into my home to touch her sister."
Sterling raised his pistol frantically, aiming for Dante's chest.
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THWIP!
A single suppressed round from Dante’s sidearm struck Sterling’s wrist, sending his silver gun spinning across the marble floor, as Dante closed the distance in a fraction of a second, driving his heavy hand flat against Sterling's throat, slamming his frame flat against the stone column.
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