Chapter 4 - The Siege of Rossi Manor
We moved through the secret corridors of the house,
the sounds of gunfire echoing through the vents.
Lorenzo led the way,
his movements fluid and lethal as he cleared every corner.
I carried Leo in a sling against my chest,
the baby miraculously sleeping through the chaos.
Every time a bullet hit the walls nearby,
I flinched,
but I kept moving.
We reached the garage,
but it was already crawling with gunmen.
Lorenzo didn't hesitate,
opening fire and taking down three men before they could even raise their weapons.
"Get in the SUV!"
he yelled,
covering me as I scrambled into the armored vehicle.
The engine roared to life,
and Lorenzo slammed it into gear,
smashing through the closed garage doors.
Bullets rained down on the reinforced glass,
creating a spiderweb of cracks but failing to penetrate.
We raced down the long driveway,
the tires screeching as Lorenzo dodged obstacles and debris.
A black sedan pulled up alongside us,
the passenger leaning out with an automatic rifle.
Lorenzo slammed the steering wheel to the side,
pitting the sedan and sending it spinning into a stone pillar.
The explosion lit up the night sky,
a blooming flower of orange and black.
"Where are we going?"
I shouted over the noise.
"To the coast,"
he replied,
his jaw set in a hard line.
"I have a boat waiting,
we're leaving the country."
I looked back at the mansion,
the place where I had been a maid,
a mourner,
and finally,
a protector.
It was burning,
the flames licking the sky like hungry tongues.
For the first time in my life,
I wasn't running away from something;
I was running toward something.
We drove for hours,
the silence in the car heavy with the weight of what we had left behind.
As the sun began to rise,
we reached a secluded pier where a sleek,
white yacht sat bobbing in the water.
Lorenzo parked the car and jumped out,
checking the area one last time.
"Is it over?"
I asked as he helped me onto the deck.
"It's never over,"
he said,
looking out at the horizon.
"But for now,
we are safe."
He took Leo from my arms,
holding the baby up to see the morning light.
Leo blinked,
reaching out a tiny hand to touch his father’s face.
In that moment,
I saw the future,
a life away from the shadows and the guns.
But I also knew that Lorenzo Rossi would never truly be at peace.
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And as long as I was with him,
neither would I.
