Chapter 7 - THE SIEGE
The warning hadn't even fully settled in the room before the first explosion rocked the estate.
The sheer force of the blast shattered the heavy, reinforced glass of the guest suite window. I screamed, throwing myself over my mother’s body as shards of glass rained down across the silk duvet.
Nicholas didn't flinch.
He drew his weapon instantly, spinning toward the door.
“Marco!” Nicholas roared into his radio. “Status!”
“They breached the front gate, Boss!” Marco yelled over the sound of heavy automatic gunfire in the background. “It’s a full assault! At least thirty men, heavy artillery. The Romanos brought an army!”
“Hold the perimeter!” Nicholas commanded. “Nobody gets inside the house!”
He turned to me, his eyes blazing with protective fury.
“Sarah, get your mother out of this bed. Now.”
I scrambled off the mattress, ignoring the small cuts on my arms. I helped my mother into her wheelchair, her hands shaking violently.
“Where are we going?” my mother cried, terrified by the deafening sound of gunfire echoing through the hallways.
“To the safe room,” Nicholas said, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair.
He didn't wait for my answer. He pushed the chair out into the grand hallway, keeping his body positioned between us and the main staircase.
The mansion was chaos.
Guards were running down the halls, shouting orders, taking up defensive positions at the windows. The beautiful, serene home I had entered an hour ago had become a war zone.
We reached Nicholas’s private study at the end of the hall.
He kicked the heavy oak door open and pushed my mother inside.
He walked over to a massive, floor-to-ceiling bookshelf filled with leather-bound volumes. He pulled a specific red book on the third shelf.
With a heavy, mechanical groan, the entire bookshelf swung inward, revealing a solid steel door.
Nicholas punched a complex code into the keypad. The steel door hissed open, revealing a stark, brightly lit panic room.
“Get inside,” Nicholas ordered, pushing the wheelchair in.
I stepped into the room, turning back to him.
“Nicholas, come with us,” I pleaded, grabbing his arm. “Please.”
He looked down at my hand gripping his sleeve, then up into my eyes. The brutal reality of his world melted away for just a fraction of a second, leaving only the man who had ordered me chicken soup in a VIP booth.
He reached out, his hand cupping the side of my face. His thumb gently brushed against my cheek.
“I have to protect my home, Sarah,” Nicholas said softly. “I have to protect you. And I can't do that hiding in a box.”
My heart ached.
I leaned into his touch, realizing with a sudden, overwhelming clarity that I was terrified of losing a man I had known for less than twenty-four hours.
“Come back to me,” I whispered.
Nicholas smiled, a dark, fiercely determined expression.
“I always come back.”
He stepped backward, out of the safe room.
“Lock the door from the inside,” he ordered. “Do not open it for anyone but me.”
The heavy steel door slid shut, locking my mother and me in absolute silence.
The safe room was soundproof. The gunfire, the explosions, the screaming—it all vanished, leaving only the sound of our own ragged breathing.
There were cots, emergency supplies, and a bank of security monitors on the wall.
I rushed over to the screens, frantically searching the black-and-white feeds for any sign of Nicholas.
My mother wheeled herself up beside me.
“Sarah,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “This is my fault. If I had just thrown that locket away—”
“Mom, stop,” I said firmly, taking her hand. “You didn't know. Andrew was the monster, not you.”
I looked back at the monitors.
The front lawn of the estate was lit up with muzzle flashes. Marco and his men were holding the line, using the overturned statues and stone planters as cover.
Then, on camera four, I saw him.
Nicholas was moving through the grand foyer, flanked by two guards. He was calm, lethal, issuing orders with the precision of a general.
But suddenly, the massive oak front doors of the mansion were blown inward by a secondary explosion.
Smoke filled the foyer.
Through the haze, a dozen Romano men poured into the house, armed with assault rifles.
I screamed, covering my mouth as I watched the screen.
Nicholas didn't retreat.
He stepped directly into the line of fire, his weapon raised, firing with deadly accuracy. Two Romano men dropped instantly.
But there were too many of them.
One of the attackers flanked Nicholas, raising his rifle, aiming directly at Nicholas’s unprotected back.
“Behind you!” I screamed at the silent monitor, hitting the glass screen with my fist.
May you like
But Nicholas couldn't hear me.
The Romano man pulled the trigger.
