Chapter 16 - The Siege
The Berkshire woods were freezing, the wind howling through the bare trees as our tactical teams surrounded the isolated cabin. We moved in absolute silence, shadows slipping through the dense foliage.
I stayed close behind Luca, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm, but I wasn't afraid. The monsters who had haunted my life were finally being hunted.
“Breach,” Luca whispered into his comms.
The element of surprise was absolute. Luca’s men blew the front doors, flooding the cabin with tear gas and flashbangs. Julian’s remaining loyalists were neutralized swiftly and silently. The muffled pffts of suppressed gunfire echoed through the wooden halls.
We moved straight to the basement. I guided them flawlessly to the hidden steel door concealed behind a fake wine rack.
“It’s locked from the inside,” Dante, the underboss, grunted.
I stepped forward, entering the six-digit code into the hidden keypad. The heavy steel door clicked and hissed open.
Luca kicked the door wide, raising his weapon.
Inside the panic room, Julian was frantically shoving stacks of cash and passports into a duffel bag. He froze, dropping the cash as Luca’s laser sight settled directly on the center of his chest.
“Going somewhere, Julian?” Luca asked, his voice dripping with lethal amusement.
Julian raised his hands, trembling so violently he nearly knocked over a table. “Luca! Wait! We can make a deal! Take the money! Take the offshore accounts! Just let me walk away!”
Luca didn't lower his gun. He stepped aside, allowing me to walk into the room.
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Julian’s eyes widened in absolute shock as he looked at me. I was wearing tactical gear, holding a gun, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the man he thought would break me.
“Seraphina?” Julian stammered. “What… what are you doing? Tell him! Tell him to let me go!”
