Chapter 7 - The Siege of Staten Island
"Code Red!" Dante’s voice roared through the intercom speakers, laced with urgent adrenaline. "We have multiple hostile breaches at the front gate! Maroni enforcers! Boss, they've got automatic weapons and explosives!"
Rico didn't panic. In a fraction of a second, the brooding father vanished, replaced entirely by the cold, calculated capo who had ruled the underworld for years. His eyes locked onto Clara with absolute intensity.
"Get upstairs to the panic room behind Leo's nursery," Rico commanded, his voice ringing with absolute authority as he pulled his Sig Sauer from his shoulder holster and checked the magazine. "Lock the steel door from the inside and do not open it for anyone—do you hear me? Anyone—unless it's me using the biometric code."
"What about you?" Clara asked, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
"I have a war to finish," Rico said coldly, turning toward the armory closet hidden behind the study paneling.
"I'm not hiding while you fight your war alone," Clara snapped, her stubborn streak flaring up. "Leo is upstairs, and he's going to wake up terrified if he hears gunfire!"
"Clara, damn it, this isn't a movie!" Rico shouted, closing the distance between them and grabbing her by the shoulders. His touch was firm, but his eyes were wide with a raw, desperate fear that had nothing to do with bullets. "If they get into this house, you are their prime target! I cannot protect you if you're running around the hallways!"
"I'm coming with you to get Leo, and then we are both going into the panic room," Clara said, her voice leaving no room for argument. "Move!"
Rico stared at her for a single, defining second, then nodded sharply. "Fine. Stay behind me. Step where I step."
They raced up the grand staircase as the first distant, muffled pop of gunfire echoed from the lower courtyard. Heavy boots thudded against the marble floors below as Moretti guards engaged the intruders in fierce, tactical combat. Glass shattered downstairs as a window was breached, followed by the terrifying rat-tat-tat of submachine gun fire.
Reaching the second floor, they burst into Leo’s nursery. The toddler was awake, sitting up in his bed, crying out in sheer terror as the sound of explosions rattled the reinforced windows.
"Daddy! Clara!" Leo screamed, stretching his tiny arms out.
Clara rushed to the bed, sweeping the little boy up into her arms and holding him tight against her chest, whispering soothingly into his hair. Rico stood guard at the bedroom door, his pistol raised, scanning the dim hallway as muzzle flashes illuminated the darkness downstairs.
"We need to move, now!" Rico ordered, backing into the room while covering the corridor.
Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the western wing of the estate, blowing out the hallway drywall and sending a shockwave through the nursery. Dante stumbled backward into the room, bleeding heavily from a shrapnel wound to his shoulder, firing his weapon down the hall before collapsing against the doorframe.
"Boss! They've breached the main staircase! There's too many of them!" Dante grunted, gritting his teeth against the pain.
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"Dante, get to the panic room controls!" Rico barked, shifting his stance.
Before they could reach the hidden wall panel, two masked Maroni enforcers emerged from the smoke in the hallway, automatic rifles raised and aimed directly at the nursery door.
