Chapter 11 - RETRIBUTION IN THE SHADOWS
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Sniper fire ripped through the heavy velvet curtains, shattering the crystal chandeliers overhead.
Marco Bellini had prepared for a betrayal.
He had stationed a dozen rogue mercenaries on the perimeter ridge of the estate.
Pandemonium erupted inside the council chamber.
Billionaire mob bosses scrambled beneath the heavy ebony table for cover.
“Emma, down!” Luca roared, throwing his entire body over mine as bullets shredded the wood paneling above our heads.
The weight of his body was heavy, protective, and unyielding.
I could feel the rapid thump of his heart against my shoulder.
“Daniel! Evacuate the council to the basement tunnel!” Luca shouted into his tactical radio.
Antonio had already dropped to one knee, pulling a small silver pistol from his cane handle with practiced ease.
The old man fired two rounds through the broken window, driving back an advancing shooter.
“Luca, go!” Antonio commanded his son.
“Get the girl to safety!”
Marco Bellini scrambled across the broken glass toward the shattered window, attempting to escape into the chaos outside.
“Marco!” Luca yelled, rolling off me and springing to his feet like an unleashed panther.
Luca grabbed my hand, pulling me into the secure hallway behind the council room.
“Take this,” Luca said, pressing a compact handgun into my palm.
“Do you know how to shoot?”
“No!” I cried, terrified.
“Point it at anyone who isn't wearing a Moretti pin and pull the trigger,” Luca instructed fiercely.
“Now run to the guest wing and get your mother to the panic room!”
“What about you?” I pleaded, gripping his sleeve.
Luca looked toward the smoking council chamber, his eyes dark with lethal purpose.
“I am ending this seventeen-year debt.”
I didn't argue.
I ran through the smoky corridors as emergency alarms wailed throughout the mansion.
I burst into the third-floor guest suite, where Clara was huddled in the bathroom closet, terrified.
“Mom, come with me right now!” I shouted, helping her up.
We sprinted toward the hidden panic room behind the wine cellar.
Just as we reached the cellar stairs, a mercenary dressed in black tactical gear rounded the corner, leveling an assault rifle at us.
“Freeze, little girl,” the man sneered.
My hands were shaking violently.
I remembered Luca’s words.
I raised the small handgun with both hands, closed my eyes for a fraction of a second, and pulled the trigger twice.
The loud bangs deafened the narrow hallway.
Both bullets struck the mercenary in the chest plate, knocking him backward down the stone steps.
Before he could recover, Daniel appeared behind him and neutralized the threat instantly.
“Good shot, Miss Hayes,” Daniel said with a grim nod.
“Get inside the panic room. The boss is finishing it outside.”
Through the reinforced cellar window, I watched the final battle unfold on the moonlit lawn.
Luca moved through the darkness like a ghost, dismantling Marco’s mercenaries one by one with terrifying efficiency.
Finally, Luca tackled Marco Bellini near the edge of the stone fountain.
The two men wrestled in the spraying water, but Marco, with his broken wrist, was no match for Luca’s sheer fury.
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Luca pinned Marco against the marble rim, pressing his forearm against the older man’s throat.
The storm above had stopped, leaving only the sound of splashing water and Marco’s choked gasps.
