Chapter 4 - The Siege of Rossi Manor
The attack came at 3:00 AM, the hour of the wolf.
It wasn't a subtle infiltration; it was a full-scale assault.
Three blacked-out SUVs rammed the front gates, while a secondary team tried to scale the sea wall.
The sound of heavy caliber gunfire shattered the silence of the night.
I was awake before the first alarm even finished its first cycle.
I grabbed my custom assault rifle and headed straight for the third floor.
"Get them to the safe room!" I yelled into my radio.
I burst into the nursery just as Hannah was waking up, her face white with terror.
"What's happening?" she screamed, clutching Leo to her chest.
"The past is catching up," I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the hidden door.
Behind the mahogany bookshelf was a room of reinforced steel and lead.
It had its own air supply, communication hub, and enough supplies for a month.
"Stay here. Don't open this door for anyone but me or Silas," I commanded.
Leo began to cry, the loud, healthy wail of a child who wanted his mother.
Hannah looked at me, her eyes searching mine for a truth I wasn't ready to tell.
"Are you coming back?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"I'm the master of this house, Hannah. No one takes what is mine."
I slammed the vault door shut and turned to face the chaos.
The mansion felt like a living thing, groaning under the weight of the battle.
I met Silas in the hallway, his shoulder bleeding from a graze.
"They’re inside the lobby," he grunted, reloading his sidearm.
"Moretti sent everything he had. He’s desperate."
"Good," I said, checking my magazine. "I like it when they’re desperate."
We moved through the house like shadows, picking off the invaders one by one.
I fought with a ferocity that surprised even my own men.
Every bullet I fired was for Sophia. Every kill was for the son they tried to starve.
We pushed them back to the foyer, the marble floors now slick with blood.
In the center of the room stood Marcus Thorne, looking out of place in his cheap leather jacket.
He was holding a grenade, his hand shaking as he looked around at the carnage.
"Where is she?" he yelled, his voice high and shrill. "Where’s my woman and my money?"
"She’s not your woman anymore, Marcus," I said, stepping out of the shadows.
The red dot of my laser sight settled right over his heart.
"You killed your own child. You forfeited your right to breathe the same air as her."
"I'll blow us all up!" he screamed, his thumb hovering over the pin.
"Go ahead," I said, stepping closer, my voice terrifyingly calm.
"But know this: if you pull that pin, you die instantly."
"If you drop it, I might only take your legs."
Marcus looked into my eyes and saw the bottomless pit of my rage.
He realized he wasn't dealing with a man; he was dealing with a force of nature.
He dropped the grenade—the pin was still in—and fell to his knees, sobbing.
I didn't kill him. Death was too easy for a man like him.
"Take him to the basement," I told Silas. "Keep him alive until I'm ready."
I walked back up the stairs, my boots clicking on the blood-stained stone.
I opened the vault door and found Hannah sitting on the floor, rocking Leo.
She looked up, saw the blood on my face, and didn't flinch.
She stood up and walked toward me, placing a hand on my cheek.
"Is it over?" she asked.
"For now," I said, leaning into her touch. "But the world knows you're here."
"I don't care," she said, her voice stronger than I had ever heard it.
"I'm not a ghost anymore, Luca. I'm part of this family."
She kissed my cheek, a soft, lingering touch that tasted of salt and hope.
I realized then that the fortress hadn't just kept the world out.
May you like
It had finally let love back in.
***
