Chapter 8 - Blood on the Marble
The traitor wasn't an outsider.
As I crept out of the wardrobe room and peeked over the grand curved balcony overlooking the foyer, the bloody truth laid itself bare across the white marble floor.
Rosa was pinned against the mahogany staircase railing, a gun pressed firmly to her temple by one of Dominic’s own trusted senior capos—Vince, the man who had managed the estate’s security detail for over a decade.
And standing below them, holding Maya, Chloe, and Mia tightly in his arms, was a man I had never seen before: Marcus Rossi, brother of the rival syndicate leader Dominic had crushed a week ago.
“Drop the piece, Russo!” Vince shouted, his voice echoing off the vaulted ceilings.
Dominic stood at the center of the foyer floor, his gun raised, his chest heaving. He wasn't aiming at Vince. He was aiming directly at Marcus Rossi, who had a small switchblade pressed casually against four-year-old Mia’s throat.
“Let my daughters go, Marcus,” Dominic growled, his voice a lethal, terrifying purr that promised agonizing death. “This is between you and me.”
“Is it?” Marcus sneered, pressing the blade slightly closer to Mia’s skin. The little girl whimpered softly. “You thought you could wipe out my family and keep your little kingdom intact? You thought hiring a civilian cleaner to play house would make you invincible? We knew about her from day one, Dominic. Your little ghost is the key to breaking you.”
From my hiding spot on the balcony, my heart stopped.
They knew. They knew I was the emotional anchor holding this shattered family together. If Marcus killed the girls, or killed me, Dominic would completely lose his mind, and the Russo empire would crumble from within.
I couldn't just stand there.
I looked around the upper hallway. On the antique mahogany console table by the guest wing sat a heavy brass decorative statue—a replica of an old Spanish galleon.
Without thinking, I grabbed the heavy metal statue, crept silently along the edge of the balcony until I was directly above Vince and Marcus, and leaned over the railing.
Take a deep breath.
I dropped the heavy brass statue with all my might.
Clang!
It hit Vince square on the shoulder, knocking him off balance and sending his gun clattering across the marble floor.
“What the—?!” Vince yelled, stumbling backward.
That single split-second distraction was all Dominic needed.
In a blur of motion, Dominic fired.
Bang!
The bullet caught Vince in the shoulder, dropping him instantly. Before Marcus could react or bring the switchblade down on Mia, Dominic closed the distance across the foyer with terrifying speed, slamming Marcus into the marble pillar so hard the entire house shook.
Marcus dropped Mia.
As the little girl scrambled forward, crying for her father, I sprinted down the grand staircase, scooped Mia up into my arms, and pulled Maya and Chloe into a tight, protective huddle behind the marble column.
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Dominic didn't stop until Marcus was unconscious on the floor, bleeding from a shattered jaw.
The foyer fell into a heavy, suffocating silence, broken only by the ragged breathing of the mafia boss standing over his fallen enemies.
