Chapter 6 - Midnight Siege
The harsh blare of the security alarm shattered the quiet of the estate, waking Sophie with a startled cry.
"Mommy!" Sophie sat up in the big bed, clutching Mr. Bun to her chest, her eyes wide with terror as red lights flashed through the darkness of the bedroom.
"Shh, baby, I'm right here," Elena rushed to the bed, pulling Sophie into her arms.
Suddenly, the lock on the bedroom door clicked. The handle turned, and the door burst open. Elena gasped, pulling Sophie behind her, expecting to see armed men.
Instead, Dante stepped into the room. He was wearing a tactical black vest over his shirt, a heavy handgun held low at his side. His face was set in granite.
"Dante! What’s happening?" Elena asked, her voice shaking.
"Donati's men are inside the perimeter," Dante said quickly, his eyes scanning the room. "Isabella opened the side gate for them."
"Isabella?" Elena froze. "She was just here... she offered me money to leave through that gate!"
"I know," Dante said, stepping closer and grabbing a heavy winter coat from the chair, throwing it to Elena. "Put this on. Now. We don't have time."
Downstairs, the sound of glass breaking echoed through the high ceilings, followed instantly by the deafening pop of gunfire. Sophie covered her ears and screamed into Elena’s side.
"Marco is holding the main staircase," Dante said, standing between the mother and child and the door. "They came for the microchip, but Donati doesn't leave witnesses. We need to reach the basement tunnel."
"What about Isabella?" Elena asked as she pulled the thick coat over Sophie and grabbed her daughter into her arms.
"Isabella is already dead to me," Dante replied coldly.
He led them quickly out into the upper hallway. Below, the grand foyer had turned into a war zone. Muzzle flashes lit up the dark walls like terrifying lightning. Men in dark tactical gear were firing up the curved staircase, while Dante's guards fired back from behind marble pillars.
"This way!" Dante motioned toward a narrow servant's stairwell at the end of the east wing.
They sprinted down the narrow hall, but just as they reached the wooden door leading to the stairs, a heavy footstep sounded behind them.
"Going somewhere, Dante?"
Dante spun around, raising his weapon instantly.
Standing at the end of the hallway was Julian Donati himself. He was fifty years old, dressed in a long camel-hair coat, his grey hair neatly styled despite the chaotic raid. Behind him stood two massive enforcers with submachine guns.
And standing right beside Julian, looking pale but smug, was Isabella.
"Julian," Dante said, his voice dropping into a deadly register. "You broke the treaty."
"You broke it first, Dante," Julian smiled coldly, taking a slow step forward. "When you brought that little girl and her mother under your roof. You should have let Victor finish his job three years ago. But your father always was too soft, and it seems you inherited his weakness."
Julian looked past Dante’s shoulder at Elena, who was backing up toward the door, holding Sophie tight.
"Hand over the drive, Dante," Julian said, raising his own silver-plated pistol. "And maybe I'll let the girl and the mother walk out into the snow."
"You're lying, Julian," Dante said softly. "You never let anyone walk."
Isabella stepped forward, her voice high and desperate. "Dante, listen to him! Give him the drive! It has my name on it! If that gets out, I go to prison forever! We can still fix this, Dante... we can still get married—"
"Shut up, Isabella," Dante snapped, not even looking at her.
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He didn't hesitate. In one lightning-fast movement, Dante reached into his vest, pulled out a flash grenade, pulled the pin with his teeth, and dropped it onto the floorboards.
"Down!" Dante roared, grabbing Elena and Sophie and pulling them through the servant's door just as the hallway exploded in a blinding flash of white light and a deafening boom.
