Chapter 5 - The Siege of Bellardi Estate"Code Black. Perimeter breach at Sector Four," Viktor’s voice crackled sharply over the encrypted comms earpiece Dominic wore. "They're using armored transport trucks. Heavy weapons. We're engaging."
The luxury study suddenly felt like the bridge of a sinking ship. Outside the tall windows, the first dull, concussive boom of a breaching charge echoed across the valley, shaking the glass panes in their heavy iron frames.
Agent Vance immediately reached inside her jacket, drawing her service weapon. "Russo, this is suicide! We need to get to the panic room in the basement right now!"
"The panic room is a tomb if they bring thermite charges," Dominic said coldly, unlocking a heavy steel panel disguised behind a mahogany bookshelf. He pulled out a customized tactical rifle and tossed a secondary sidearm onto the desk toward me.
I stared at the black steel pistol resting inches from my hand. "Dominic... I don't know how to shoot."
"You don't need to shoot," he said, stepping close and gripping my shoulders, his dark eyes burning with fierce determination. "You need to listen to me. Viktor is waiting at the private service elevator at the end of the hall. He will take you and Agent Vance down to the boathouse tunnel. There's a speedboat waiting on the river. You take it, you go north, and you don't look back."
"And you?" My voice broke, a sudden, overwhelming wave of terror crashing over me. For all his ruthlessness, for all the terrifying power he commanded, the thought of him standing alone against an army made my chest constrict. "Dominic, no—I'm not leaving you here to die!"
"I am not going to die, Chloe," he murmured, his thumb brushing a tear from my cheek that I hadn't realized was falling. He leaned down and pressed a hard, lingering kiss against my forehead. "I survived twenty years in this war. I'm not about to lose the only real thing I've ever had. Now go!"
Before I could argue further, the heavy oak doors of the study splintered inward under the force of a shotgun blast.
Chaos erupted.
Viktor appeared in the doorway, returning fire with lethal precision, dropping two armed mercenaries in tactical gear who tried to storm the landing. "Boss! They're through the north courtyard!"
"Take her, Viktor!" Dominic roared, raising his rifle and firing down the corridor.
Agent Vance grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the service elevator as Viktor laid down a wall of suppressive fire. I looked back just once through the smoke and flashing muzzle fire.
Dominic stood in the center of the hallway like a dark angel of vengeance, firing methodically into the advancing horde, an unyielding wall between the enemy and the life growing inside me.
The elevator doors slammed shut, cutting off the deafening roar of war.
We plunged downward into the damp, concrete silence of the subterranean tunnels. My hands shook uncontrollably as I clutched the sidearm Viktor had forced into my grip. Every second felt like an eternity as the elevator finally dinged, opening directly into the dark, freezing boathouse opening out onto the mist-shrouded Hudson River.
A sleek, black high-speed river craft idled against the wooden dock, its engine purring quietly in the dark.
"Get in, Miss Sterling!" Viktor shouted over the sound of the wind, scanning the tree line above us with his rifle raised.
May you like
As Agent Vance shoved me toward the boat, a deafening explosion echoed from the main estate high above the cliff. A massive fireball lit up the snowy night sky, shattering windows across the compound.
The battle for the Bellardi estate had reached the inner keep. And Dominic was still up there.
