Chapter 7 - Blood on the Marble
At 11:45 PM, a heavy blizzard swept over Lake Forest, blinding visibility and muffling the sound of engines.
Four black SUVs killed their headlights as they coasted up the estate driveway. Lorenzo stood at the side security gate, holding an electronic jammer that disabled the exterior perimeter alarms.
Twenty heavily armed men, led by Mateo Marcone, slipped through the shadows, their heavy boots crunching against the snow as they breached the side terrace doors.
Inside the quiet house, Clara heard the faint crunch of breaking glass from the dining room.
Remembering my warning, she didn’t freeze. She moved with lightning speed, waking her mother, unlocking the hidden bookshelf door, and wheeling Elena into the steel-fortified panic room.
“Clara, what’s happening?” Elena whispered, terrified.
“Dominic prepared for this, Mom,” Clara said, her heart hammering against her ribs as she inserted the brass key into the internal lock. “We stay here.”
Outside in the foyer, Lorenzo led Mateo Marcone up the grand staircase toward the guest wing, a victorious sneer plastered across his face.
“The girl and the old woman are in the ground floor suite,” Lorenzo whispered, pointing down the hall. “Grab them. We’ll use them to force Rossi to—”
Suddenly, every light in the mansion cut out, plunging the grand estate into pitch-black darkness.
A second later, heavy steel blast shutters slammed down over every window and door in the building with deafening metallic thuds, sealing the entire estate into an inescapable tomb.
Lorenzo panicked. “What the hell is going on?!”
From the top of the grand staircase, a single spotlight flickered on, cutting through the shadows.
Standing in the center of the beam was me.
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I wore a charcoal suit, no coat, holding a pair of custom handguns at my sides. Behind me stood thirty of my most loyal, battle-hardened enforcers, armed to the teeth, completely surrounding the upper balcony.
“Welcome to my home, Mateo,” I called down, my voice echoing off the vaulted ceilings like thunder. “I believe you’ve been looking for me for fifteen years.”
