Chapter 6 - The Siege in the Dark
The massive explosion shook the very foundations of the Rossi estate, shattering the reinforced glass of the living room windows into a million deadly pieces.
Leo reacted with terrifying speed, diving across the space to cover both Beatrice and Lily with his large, heavy body as debris rained down around them.
The deafening sound of the blast was immediately followed by the frantic wailing of the estate’s security alarms and the chaotic shouting of armed guards outside.
Lily woke up screaming in pure terror, clinging desperately to Beatrice’s shirt as the smell of smoke and burning grass flooded the room.
“Stay down!” Leo roared over the chaos, pulling a heavy black handgun from the holster hidden beneath his sweater.
He grabbed Beatrice by the arm, hauling her to her feet while she kept Lily securely tucked tightly against her chest.
“Kensington’s men have breached the front gates,” Mateo shouted, running into the room with an assault rifle strapped to his chest and blood dripping from his forehead.
“They used a shaped charge on the reinforced wall, and there are at least thirty heavily armed mercenaries flooding the north lawn,” Mateo reported rapidly.
Leo’s face contorted into a mask of pure, violent fury, his eyes calculating the odds in a fraction of a second.
“Get them to the panic room in the basement, right now,” Leo ordered Mateo, shoving Beatrice toward the hidden hallway behind the bookshelves.
“I am not leaving you up here to fight alone!” Beatrice cried out, surprising herself with the fierce, protective anger in her own voice.
Leo stopped, turning back to grab her face with both of his large hands, his thumbs aggressively wiping away a smudge of soot from her cheek.
“You are going to take my daughter down there, you are going to lock the heavy vault door, and you are not going to open it for anyone but me,” Leo commanded fiercely.
“Do you understand me, Beatrice?” he demanded, his dark eyes boring directly into her soul, pleading with her to survive.
She nodded frantically, tears streaming down her face as she tightened her grip on the sobbing child in her arms.
Mateo grabbed her elbow, pulling her quickly down the dark, narrow secret corridor while the horrifying sound of heavy gunfire erupted violently in the main foyer behind them.
They reached the reinforced steel door of the panic room deep beneath the earth, and Mateo quickly punched in the complex security code.
The heavy door hissed open, and he violently shoved Beatrice and Lily inside the perfectly safe, heavily armored bunker.
“If we don't come back down in two hours, there is a secure phone on the wall that connects directly to the federal marshals,” Mateo told her quickly.
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Before Beatrice could argue, Mateo slammed the heavy steel door shut, and the massive internal deadbolts locked into place with a terrifying finality.
Beatrice was left alone in the cold, bright room, holding the crying little girl, completely terrified that she had just seen the man she loved for the very last time.
