Chapter 20 - THE BREACH IN THE SANCTUARY
Before Elena could drop the phone and race to Luca’s suite, the blaring, high-pitched wail of the estate’s security alarm ripped through the midnight air.
*CRACK!*
The sound of high-caliber rifle fire shattered the quiet night outside. Seconds later, a deafening explosion roared from the estate’s lower gatehouse, shaking the heavy stone walls of the mansion to their foundations. Dust rained down from the ornate ceiling, and the chandelier in Elena's bedroom swayed violently.
"Elena!"
Her bedroom door was kicked open with brutal force. Luca stood in the threshold, tactical vest strapped over his black clothes, an automatic rifle gripped in his hands. His eyes were wide with a fierce, primal panic she had never seen on him before.
"They breached the perimeter," Luca barked, grabbing her hand and pulling her forcefully out into the smoky hallway. "Moretti teamed up with the Falcone remnants. They brought thirty men."
Gunfire echoed up the marble staircase—close, terrifyingly close. The smell of sulfur, smoke, and burning wood flooded the corridor.
"My brother—" Elena cried out, stumbling as Luca guided her toward the heavy reinforced door of the east wing's panic bunker.
"I have men looking for Leo, he’s alive, but right now you stay with me!" Luca shouted over the thunderous roar of automatic gunfire below.
Just as they reached the reinforced steel door, the skylight above the central hallway shattered into a storm of falling glass shards.
Two heavily armed mercenaries in tactical gear rappelled down through the broken ceiling, assault rifles leveled directly at Elena’s back.
"Down!" Luca roared.
He spun around, wrapping his entire body around Elena and throwing her violently against the stone wall beneath him, his chest shielding her face and torso completely as the mercenaries opened fire.
A volley of bullets tore into the wall beside their heads, spraying chips of sharp stone into the air. Luca grunted, a shudder wracking his body as a bullet found its mark in his back.
Through the dense smoke and falling glass, Luca raised his sidearm, firing two lethal shots upward, dropping one of the shooters instantly. But at the end of the corridor, heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs, and the mocking, chilling laugh of Enzo Moretti echoed through the haze.
"Luca!" Elena screamed, clutching the front of his vest, her hands instantly coming away soaked in his hot, fresh blood.
Luca looked down at her through the haze of smoke, his vision wavering, yet his jaw locked in unrelenting resolve. He lifted his bleeding hand, cupping her cheek with fierce, dying strength.
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"Stay behind me, Elena," he whispered hoarsely, his breath ragged as the shadows closed in from both sides of the hallway. "They won't take you while I have a single breath left."
Footsteps rounded the corner, rifles clicking into position, aimed straight into the smoke where they lay trapped.
