Chapter 4 - A Serpent in the SanctuaryThe alarms began to blare across the estate—a high-pitched, terrifying screech that shattered the quiet night.
“BREACH! FRONT GATE BREACH!” Leo’s voice roared through the terrace speakers. “HEAVY AUTOMATIC FIRE ON THE PERIMETER! IT’S THE MORETTIS!”
Matteo instantly shielded Grace with his body, pushing her behind a thick stone pillar as automatic gunfire began to rattle through the trees below.
“Matteo!” Grace cried, terror seizing her throat.
Matteo reached into his shoulder holster, drawing a sleek, black semi-automatic pistol. His face was no longer that of the tender lover who had just kissed her; it was the face of a deadly predator defending his den.
“Grace, listen to me!” Matteo commanded, grabbing her shoulders and looking into her eyes with burning focus. “Take Elena. Go to the panic room behind the library bookshelf. The code is 0812. Lock it from the inside and do not open it for anyone except me or Leo! Do you understand me?!”
“What about you?!” Grace screamed over the sound of breaking glass downstairs.
“I have to hold the hallway!” Matteo snapped. “GO!”
Grace didn't hesitate. She turned and sprinted through the grand terrace doors toward Elena’s bedroom.
The estate was in chaos. Shadows flickered across the walls as security guards traded heavy fire with invading hitmen in the lower courtyard. The smell of gunpowder and ozone filled the air.
Grace burst into Elena’s room. The eight-year-old girl was sitting up in bed, clutching her stuffed bear, sobbing in terror.
“Grace! Grace, I’m scared!”
“I’m right here, sweet pea!” Grace rushed to the bed, scooping Elena’s frail body up into her arms. She carried the girl out into the corridor, running as fast as her legs could carry her toward the library.
As Grace reached the library entrance, the heavy double doors at the end of the hall exploded inward.
A tall, heavily armed man in black tactical gear stepped through the dust, holding an assault rifle. It was Silvio—Matteo’s senior capo, the traitor who had sold out the estate’s security codes to the Morettis.
“Well, well,” Silvio sneered, raising his rifle as he caught sight of Grace holding Elena. “Duca’s little nanny. Hand over the girl, sweetheart, and maybe I won't put a bullet in your pretty head.”
Elena shrieked, hiding her face in Grace’s neck.
Grace’s blood ran cold, but a sudden, ferocious maternal instinct surged through her veins. She backed up slowly into the doorway of the library.
“She’s a child, Silvio,” Grace said, her voice shaking but resolute as she looked for any weapon in reach. “You’re a coward.”
“I’m a businessman,” Silvio spat, stepping forward. “And this child is my ten-million-dollar ransom ticket out of New York.”
He lunged forward to grab Elena from Grace’s arms.
Grace didn't scream. She didn't freeze.
With a primal cry, Grace swung her heavy, leather-bound brass globe off the nearby pedestal, slamming it with all her strength directly into Silvio’s face.
The heavy brass smashed into his nose with a sickening crunch. Silvio stumbled back, cursing violently, blood spurting from his face.
“You crazy bitch!” Silvio roared, raising his rifle.
Grace didn't give him the chance. She threw her full weight into him, shoving him back toward the open balcony stairwell. Silvio lost his footing on the smooth marble, tumbling backward down twenty steep wooden stairs, crashing heavily onto the ground floor below, unconscious.
Grace sprinted into the library, punched the code 0812 into the key pad behind the oak bookshelf, and carried Elena into the reinforced steel panic room.
She hit the internal lock button. The heavy steel door slid shut with a deep, echoing THUD, sealing them in absolute safety.
Grace slid down the steel door, holding the crying young girl tightly against her chest, her body shaking as she stroked Elena’s hair in the dark.
“We’re safe, sweet pea,” Grace whispered through her own tears. “We’re safe now.”
Outside, ten minutes later, the gunfire died down.
The heavy steel door of the panic room beeped three times. The mechanical lock disengaged, and the door slid open.
Matteo stood in the doorway. His white shirt was torn, stained with soot and blood, his chest heaving. He dropped his weapon to the floor the moment his eyes landed on Grace and Elena sitting on the floor.
“Elena! Grace!” Matteo fell to his knees, wrapping his thick arms around both of them, pulling them into a fierce, desperate embrace.
He kissed Grace’s face, her eyelids, her forehead, his hands trembling as he checked her body for injuries. “Are you hurt? Did he touch you?”
“We’re okay,” Grace sobbed, holding his face in her hands. “I shoved Silvio down the stairs. Elena is safe.”
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Matteo stared at her, profound shock and overwhelming love shining in his dark eyes. He pulled Grace to his lips, kissing her with a wild, possessive fierce affection that claimed her soul forever.
“You saved my daughter,” Matteo whispered against her lips. “You protected my family.”
