Chapter 4 - THE SIEGE OF THE ESTATE
The night air burned with the scent of gunpowder and burning gasoline.
The outer gates of the estate had been blown wide open by a tactical breach charge. Three blacked-out armored SUVs roared up the winding driveway, their tires tearing up the manicured lawns.
Over twenty armed mercenaries—hired by the Chicago syndicate to wipe out my bloodline—poured out of the vehicles, carrying automatic rifles and tactical gear.
They thought they were attacking an unsuspecting, grieving crime boss caught off guard by an internal betrayal.
They were wrong.
The moment the first mercenary stepped onto the marble fountain plaza, the high-powered floodlights surrounding the estate flashed on, blinding the intruders in a wall of brilliant white light.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
From the second-floor windows and the roof alcoves, my loyal guards opened fire. Heavy tactical rounds rained down on the plaza, turning the armored SUVs into shredded steel within seconds.
Inside the basement panic room beneath the pool house, Sophia held Emma tightly in her arms. The heavy steel door was locked with a seven-inch deadbolt, reinforced with three inches of solid titanium.
"Mommy, is it thunder outside?" Emma asked softly, resting her cheek against Sophia’s shoulder.
"Yes, baby," Sophia lied, tears streaming down her face as the heavy thuds of distant gunfire echoed through the concrete walls. "It's just a big thunderstorm. Mr. Vance is turning off the rain."
Emma reached into her small apron pocket and pulled out a small wooden bowl filled with crushed mint, rosemary, and dried chamomile leaves.
"The big man is fighting the bad shadows," Emma whispered with uncanny calmness. "Grandma said herbs don't just wake up legs, Mommy. They keep bad shadows away."
Meanwhile, inside the main estate, I led the defense from the grand balcony.
Equipped with a custom tactical rifle, I fired with methodical, terrifying precision. Every man who breached the front courtyard fell before he could reach the front steps. Beside me, Leo commanded our secondary perimeter, guiding our men through the hidden underground tunnels to flank the attackers from behind.
"Julian!" Leo called out over the radio headset. "Their leader is trying to slip around the east wing toward the pool house! He knows about the guest quarters!"
My blood ran cold. The pool house.
"Cover me!" I yelled into the comms.
I dropped my heavy rifle, pulled my dual pistols from their holsters, and sprinted down the back service staircase. I burst through the glass conservatory doors, racing across the darkened gardens toward the pool house.
A tall, heavy-set mercenary wearing a Kevlar vest was standing outside the pool house doors, planting a magnetic breaching charge against the lock.
"Hey!" I roared through the darkness.
The mercenary snapped his head around, raising his submachine gun, but I was faster.
I fired three rounds in quick succession. Two struck his chest plate, throwing him off balance, and the third caught him squarely beneath the helmet. He collapsed into the turquoise waters of the swimming pool with a heavy splash.
I rushed to the breaching charge, disarmed the timer with five seconds to spare, and tossed it into the deep end of the pool.
Silence gradually returned to the estate.
The remaining mercenaries were either captured or eliminated by my men at the front gates. The smoke began to clear under the moonlight, revealing the total destruction of the forces sent to eradicate my family.
I stood by the pool house, breathing heavily, my suits ruined with ash and gunsmoke.
Slowly, I knocked on the heavy steel door in our private code: three slow taps, two fast.
The titanium deadbolt slid back with a heavy metallic click. The door opened, revealing Sophia crying tears of relief, holding Emma close.
Emma looked up at me, her blue eyes scanning my blood-stained shirt.
"Did you make the bad shadows go away?" she asked.
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I dropped to one knee, looking at the little girl who had shattered three years of darkness in a single afternoon.
"Yes, Emma," I said softly, taking her tiny hand in mine. "The bad shadows are gone. Forever."
