Chapter 4 - The Night the Mansion Fell Dark
Alessandro threw himself between us and the window.
Glass exploded across the carpet.
“Down!”
I dropped beside the bed, pulling Emma under me.
Marco fired twice through the broken window while Alessandro dragged the heavy mattress upright to form a barrier.
Emergency lights flickered red along the hallway.
Emma sobbed against my chest.
“Mama, loud!”
“I know, baby.”
Alessandro crouched beside us.
“Are you hit?”
I shook my head.
“Emma?”
“She’s okay.”
He touched the back of her head, checking for blood.
Another burst of gunfire echoed from the garden.
Marco pressed a hand to his earpiece.
“South team is pinned. Intruders breached the greenhouse.”
“How?”
“Inside access.”
Victor.
Alessandro looked toward the door.
“Secure room is compromised.”
Marco nodded. “They know every route.”
The bedroom door shook under a heavy impact.
Emma screamed again.
Alessandro picked her up and pushed her into my arms.
“Bathroom.”
“It has one entrance.”
“It has a service shaft behind the linen cabinet.”
I stared at him.
“You built a service shaft into the guest bathroom?”
“I build exits into every room.”
The door shook again.
Wood splintered near the lock.
Alessandro pulled the bathroom cabinet aside, revealing a narrow metal panel.
He entered a code. The panel opened.
A dark passage waited behind it.
Marco fired through the bedroom door.
A man shouted outside.
Alessandro pushed me toward the opening.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll follow.”
“You said that like a lie.”
His eyes met mine.
“Grace.”
“No.”
“This is not the time.”
“You are not staying behind.”
Another impact cracked the doorframe.
Alessandro seized my shoulders.
“Listen to me. Take Emma to the lower garage. There is a black SUV in bay four. The keys are inside.”
“And then?”
“Drive north.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere that is not on one of Victor’s lists.”
Emma clung to my neck.
“Bear come?”
Alessandro looked at her.
“Yes, angel.”
“Promise?”
His face tightened.
He kissed two fingers and pressed them gently to her forehead.
“I promise.”
Marco shouted, “Now!”
I entered the passage.
Alessandro closed the panel behind us.
Darkness swallowed everything.
I carried Emma down a narrow metal staircase while the mansion shook with muffled gunfire.
“Hold tight,” I whispered.
“I scared.”
“So am I.”
“Mama scared?”
“Yes.”
She pressed her face into my neck.
“That okay.”
The passage ended behind a storage wall near the garage.
I pushed through and stepped into a large concrete space filled with armored cars.
Emergency lights blinked overhead.
Bay four was empty.
My breath caught.
The SUV was gone.
A slow clap came from behind me.
Victor stepped from the shadows.
Blood marked one side of his face. His hands were bound in front of him with a plastic restraint that had been cut through.
“Well done,” he said. “You followed his instructions perfectly.”
I backed away.
Emma whimpered.
“You brought them here,” I said.
Victor smiled.
“I opened the gate. Rizzo brought the rest.”
“You told Emma to wash the shirt.”
“She needed a reason to be noticed.”
“She is a child.”
“She is leverage.”
Rage cut through my fear.
I set Emma behind a parked sedan.
“Stay down.”
Victor reached toward me.
“Do not make this difficult.”
I grabbed the first thing within reach—a metal fire extinguisher—and swung.
Victor ducked.
The extinguisher struck the car window, cracking it.
He caught my wrist and twisted.
Pain shot up my arm.
“You should have stayed a housekeeper,” he hissed.
I drove my knee into his stomach.
He grunted and released me.
I swung again.
This time, the extinguisher struck his shoulder.
Victor staggered backward.
“Run, Emma!”
She crawled from behind the car and sprinted toward the side door.
Victor lunged.
I threw myself onto his back.
We crashed against the hood of a car.
He slammed his elbow into my ribs.
Air left my lungs.
He threw me to the ground and reached inside his jacket.
A gun appeared.
“Enough.”
Emma stood frozen near the door.
Victor aimed at me.
Then a shot cracked through the garage.
Victor jerked.
The gun fell from his hand.
He collapsed beside me.
Alessandro stood at the entrance, smoke curling from his weapon.
Blood ran from a cut above his eyebrow. His shirt was torn at the shoulder, and two guards stood behind him.
Emma shouted, “Bear!”
She ran toward him.
Alessandro holstered the weapon and caught her with both arms.
He held her so tightly that her feet lifted from the floor.
“I promised,” he whispered.
I pushed myself upright.
Victor groaned.
He was alive. The bullet had struck his thigh.
Alessandro looked down at him.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” Victor said through clenched teeth.
Alessandro handed Emma to Marco, who had appeared behind him.
Then he approached Victor.
“I gave you a place at my table.”
Victor laughed weakly.
“You gave me orders.”
“I trusted you with my family.”
“You had no family.”
Alessandro stopped.
Victor looked at Emma.
“Until her.”
Alessandro’s hands curled into fists.
I stepped between them.
“Emma asked you not to hurt him.”
Victor smiled from the floor.
“You think that will stop him?”
Alessandro stared past me at Victor.
For several seconds, I was certain he would fire again.
Then he took out his phone.
“Detective Sullivan,” he said when the call connected. “I have a man involved in six murders, extortion, conspiracy, and tonight’s attack.”
Victor’s smile vanished.
Alessandro continued, “Bring every honest officer you still have.”
He ended the call.
“You’re giving me to the police?” Victor asked.
“No.”
Alessandro crouched beside him.
“I’m giving you to twelve juries, six grieving families, and every man you sold.”
Victor’s face went pale.
“This organization will think you’re weak.”
Alessandro stood.
“No. They will learn there are consequences worse than a quick death.”
Police sirens approached beyond the gates.
Emma reached for Alessandro.
He took her from Marco.
She touched the blood above his eyebrow.
“You hurt.”
“I’ll live.”
“You shoot loud.”
“Yes.”
“You put him jail?”
“Yes.”
She looked over his shoulder at Victor.
“Good.”
Then she rested her cheek against Alessandro’s chest.
He closed his eyes.
The battle outside was ending.
But when he looked at me again, I knew the danger was not.
May you like
Victor had only been the traitor.
Dominic Rizzo was still free.
