Chapter 10
The heavy oak doors crashed to the floor, sending a cloud of dust billowing into the pitch-black ballroom. For a terrifying second, there was absolute silence. Then, a series of bright, blinding tactical lights cut through the darkness from the hallway, sweeping rapidly across the room. The harsh beams illuminated the terrified faces of the guests cowering against the walls and the pristine, pale-blue uniform of Elena hiding behind the table.
Dominic did not flinch against the blinding lights. His pale, intense eyes locked onto the silhouettes moving through the doorway. There were five men, all dressed in dark tactical gear, carrying suppressed submachine guns. But what chilled Dominic to the bone was what he saw on their chests as the flashlights swept past them.
Every single one of the breaching men was wearing a gold falcon pin.
The betrayal was total. Half of his elite security force had turned against him.
"Hold your fire until they clear the guests!" Dominic commanded his loyal men, his voice booming with lethal authority. He refused to let innocent blood spill in his home, even if it cost him a tactical advantage.
The leader of the assault team stepped forward, his weapon raised, searching for the white suit. "Dominic Moretti! Stand down and hand over the boy! We have the rest of the estate secured. You have nowhere to go!"
Dominic let out a low, dark chuckle that vibrated through the silent room. He rose slightly from his crouched position, his broad, muscular shoulders tense and ready.
"You think you have the estate secured because you bought a few of my guards?" Dominic called back, his tone dripping with cold, mocking arrogance. "You forgot one crucial detail, gentlemen."
"And what is that, Boss?" the traitorous leader sneered, inching closer.
"I built this house," Dominic said calmly.
With his free hand, Dominic reached under the thick edge of the massive mahogany dining table. His fingers found a hidden, recessed panel in the wood. He pressed his thumb against a biometric scanner hidden from view.
Instantly, the ballroom responded. The emergency backup generators engaged with a heavy, mechanical hum, bypassing the compromised electrical grid. The bright cinematic colors of the room violently returned as the crystal chandeliers blazed back to life at maximum brightness, instantly blinding the assault team who were using night-vision optics.
The traitors screamed, tearing their goggles off as the sudden, intense light burned their retinas.
"Now!" Dominic roared.
The loyal bodyguards opened fire. The suppressed pops of their weapons echoed sharply over the marble floors. Two of the traitors dropped instantly, their dark suits collapsing to the ground.
The remaining three scrambled for cover behind the shattered oak doors, blindly returning fire. A bullet whizzed past Dominic, shattering a crystal vase on the table above Elena's head.
Elena screamed, pulling Ethan and Lily flat against the floor, covering both children with her body. "Stay down! Stay down!" she cried.
Dominic stepped out from behind the table, moving with terrifying, predatory grace. The elegant white suit made him a massive target, but he was fearless. He raised his weapon, his ruggedly handsome face locked in a mask of pure, violent focus, and advanced toward the doorway, firing precisely and methodically.
The firefight was deafening, the air filling with the smell of gunpowder and shattered marble. But amidst the chaos, Dr. Harris noticed something entirely wrong. The physician, still taking cover by the pillar, watched the hallway behind the remaining attackers.
Another figure was walking down the service corridor. Slowly. Calmly. Ignoring the gunfire entirely.
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"Dominic!" Dr. Harris shouted over the noise, pointing toward the hallway. "Look!"
Dominic fired a final shot, dropping the third attacker, and glanced toward the corridor. A tall, impeccably dressed man was stepping over the fallen bodies, carrying a small, silver box identical to the one Vincenzo had used. The man looked up, locking eyes with Dominic. The true mastermind had finally revealed himself, and the war for the Moretti empire had only just begun.
