Chapter 5 - Blood and Teacups
On the security screen, six men dressed in black tactical gear and wearing night-vision goggles slipped quietly through the estate's rear service entrance.
They weren't external rivals. They were Dominic's private mercenary unit—the men he paid off-the-books to handle dirty work that the standard syndicate guards weren't allowed to see.
"He isn't waiting for dawn," Adrian realized coldly. "He saw that my mind was clear during the board meeting. He knows the poison isn't working fast enough, so he's executing a manual purge."
"They're heading for the master suite," Leo reported, his weapon drawn and ready. "They think you're sleeping in your bed."
"Where is Lily?" Adrian demanded, his heart freezing instantly.
"She's in the lower staff quarters with Mrs. Ricci," Clara gasped, her face draining of color as panic seized her chest. "Mr. Moretti, the staff wing is right along their tactical entry path!"
"Leo, get Clara to the panic room behind the wine cellar," Adrian ordered instantly, pulling a high-caliber pistol from a hidden compartment under the vault desk.
"No!" Clara cried out, grabbing Adrian's lapels with surprising strength. "My daughter is down there! I am not hiding while those monsters walk into her room!"
Adrian looked down into her terrified, resolute eyes. He saw the same fierce, protective fire that drove him.
"Follow me," Adrian commanded flatly. "And keep low."
We moved through the secret service passages built behind the oak-paneled walls of the estate. These passages had been designed by Adrian's grandfather to allow the head of the house to move unseen during a siege.
As we reached the wall panel overlooking the staff corridor, three mercenaries crept down the hallway, their weapons raised, moving systematically toward the master suite stairs.
One of the men paused outside the door to the staff quarters, reaching for his tactical flashbang grenade.
Adrian didn't wait.
He kicked the hidden wood panel open with a deafening crack, stepping into the corridor like a vengeful shadow.
Pfft! Pfft!
Two suppressed shots tore through the dim hallway. The lead mercenary dropped instantly before he could pull the pin on his grenade.
The second man turned, raising his submachine gun, but Leo rounded the corner from the opposite side, putting a bullet through his chest.
The third mercenary scrambled backward, aiming his weapon directly toward the staff room door—where three-year-old Lily was clutching her rabbit behind the thin wood frame.
Clara let out a primal scream, throwing herself forward without a second thought to shield her child's room with her own body.
Adrian moved with terrifying speed. He grabbed the mercenary by his throat, slamming him face-first into the stone wall with a bone-shattering impact that shook the entire hallway.
The gun dropped onto the carpet with a dull thud.
Adrian pinned the man against the wall, his eyes burning with a dark, lethal rage that terrified even the cowering mercenary.
"Who ordered this entry?" Adrian roared, his voice echoing through the stone corridors like thunder.
"Dominic!" the mercenary choked out, gasping for air as Adrian's fingers tightened around his airway. "Mr. Dominic said you were incapacitated! He said... he said to make it look like a home invasion by the Vane syndicate!"
Adrian threw the man unconscious onto the floor, wiping a spot of blood off his knuckle.
The staff door clicked open slowly.
Lily stood in her yellow lion pajamas, holding her gray rabbit, looking out at the chaos in the hallway.
Clara dropped to her knees, pulling Lily into a desperate, sobbing hug, burying her face in her daughter's curls.
Lily looked over her mother's shoulder at Adrian, her brown eyes completely calm.
"Mr. Moretti," Lily whispered softly. "You stopped the bad men."
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Adrian walked over, dropping to one knee beside Clara and Lily. He gently patted the little girl's head, his expression softening into profound tenderness.
"Yes, little lion," Adrian murmured softly. "The rabbit told me what to do."
