Chapter 8 - Siege of Lake Forest
"Lock down the panic room!" I ordered, springing to my feet with the speed and lethal grace of a trained predator. The cold, ruthless Mafia boss returned instantly, pushing aside all fear and replacing it with pure, unadulterated fury.
"Elena, take Sophie and the nannies. Move the triplets to the basement vault immediately. Marco, rally the security detail at the main staircase. Let none of them pass!"
"Understood, Boss!"
Sirens began to wail across the estate as the automated security system shifted into defensive mode. Heavy steel shutters dropped over the ground-floor windows, plunging the hallways into dim, amber emergency light.
Gunfire erupted outside—sharp, rhythmic cracks of assault rifles shattering the pristine silence of the Lake Forest neighborhood. Glass windows exploded in the foyer as Salvatore’s hitmen breached the front entrance.
I drew my customized Sig Sauer P226 from its shoulder holster, racking the slide with a crisp, metallic clack.
"You want my house?" I muttered to myself, stepping out into the second-floor corridor. "You want my children? You'll have to crawl through hell to get them."
From the top of the grand staircase, I raised my weapon and fired down into the foyer. Two masked men in tactical gear dropped instantly, tumbling backward down the marble steps.
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"Moretti is on the second floor!" a voice shouted from below. "Flush him out! Use the thermal charges on the nursery wall!"
Thermal charges. They weren't just trying to shoot their way in; they were trying to blast open the nursery wall to unleash whatever ancient curse Alistair Vance had left trapped beneath the foundation. Dante Salvatore knew about the sinkhole. He had orchestrated the whole thing.
