Chapter 5 - The Siege of the Vale Estate
The lights flickered, died, and were instantly replaced by the harsh, pulsing crimson of emergency backup generators.
"Protect the girls!" Dominic roared into his radio, his calm demeanor instantly vaporizing into the lethal fury of a warlord. "Marcus, seal the medical wing and lock down the panic vault! If anyone breaches the second floor, execute kill-order Alpha!"
He grabbed Emily by the arm, dragging her behind him as he pulled a heavy black automatic pistol from a concealed holster beneath his robe.
"Stay behind me!" he barked over the deafening sound of gunfire echoic down the concrete stairwells above.
Cole screamed from his chair, "Don Dominic! Don't leave me here! Rostova will kill me!"
Dominic didn't even look back. He slammed the heavy reinforced steel door of the interrogation cell, locking Cole inside, and shoved Emily into a narrow security elevator.
"Dominic! Lily and Grace!" Emily screamed, her heart pounding against her ribs like a sledgehammer.
"They are inside a reinforced steel panic room with four of my best men!" Dominic said, his dark eyes ablaze as he racked the slide of his pistol with a sharp CLICK. "Rostova didn't come for my daughters this time. He knows they are guarded."
He looked down at the tiny silver key still clutched in Emily's trembling hand.
"He came for you. And he came for that key."
The elevator doors hissed open on the ground floor.
The grand marble foyer of the Vale Estate was transformed into a war zone. Glass windows had shattered inward in a spray of deadly crystals. Smoke filled the air, smelling of cordite and burning tapestry.
Outside, heavy automatic gunfire rattled against the stone facade like hail.
Dozens of Dominic’s tactical guards were firing through the shattered windows, returning fire against dark figures moving through the snow-covered gardens outside.
"DON DOMINIC!" a guard screamed as a burst of bullets chewed through the mahogany doorframe above his head. "THEY BROKE THROUGH THE EAST PERIMETER WITH AN ARMORED VEHICLE!"
Dominic didn't flinch. He raised his weapon and fired three rapid, precise shots through the broken window. Fifty yards away, a man in a tactical vest collapsed into the snow.
Emily ducked behind a heavy marble pillar, her breathing ragged. She watched Dominic move. He wasn't just a businessman or a mob Don; he was a force of nature. He moved with terrifying grace, every shot calculated, every command shouted over the din of battle turning the tide of the assault.
Suddenly, a heavy concussion grenade slammed through the high stained-glass window above the foyer.
BLINDING FLASH. DEAFENING ROAR.
The blast wave threw Emily onto her back against the marble floor. Her ears rang with a high-pitched scream. The room spun wildly.
Through the haze of smoke, she saw three heavy tactical operatives wearing black helmets and Russian insignias breach the front entrance.
One of them spotted Emily lying on the floor.
"SECURE THE PARKER GIRL!" the Russian operative shouted in a heavy accent.
He lunged toward her, reaching out with a gloved hand to grab her hair.
Emily didn't freeze. The memory of her mother, the memory of Lily and Grace freezing in the snow, flared through her mind. She grabbed a heavy bronze candlestick lying beside her on the floor and swung it with all her strength.
CRACK!
The heavy bronze struck the operative straight across the visor, shattering his helmet glass and sending him stumbling backward, bleeding.
Before the second operative could raise his rifle at Emily, a dark shadow loomed over him.
Dominic arrived like an enraged god.
He grabbed the second operative by the throat, slamming him violently into the marble pillar until the stone cracked. He kicked the man’s rifle away, pulled a combat knife from his belt, and neutralized the third operative in a brutal three-second display of absolute violence.
Dominic dropped the man’s body, turned, and dropped to his knees beside Emily.
His face was streaked with soot and blood—not his own. His dark eyes searched her face frantically.
"Emily!" he roared over the gunfire. "Are you hit?!"
"I'm... I'm okay!" she gasped, clutching his arm.
Dominic pulled her up against his chest, holding her so tightly she could feel the thunderous pounding of his heart.
"You hit him with a candlestick," Dominic said, a breathless, dark laugh escaping his throat despite the war raging around them. "You unbelievable woman."
"I told you," Emily panted, wiping dust from her eyes. "I'm not a victim."
"No," Dominic whispered, his dark eyes burning into hers with a sudden, overwhelming intensity that made her blood run hot. "You are a queen."
Before the moment could linger, Marcus ran into the foyer, covered in drywall dust.
"BOSS! The perimeter is clear! We wiped out their forward team! The remaining vehicles are retreating back toward the highway!"
Dominic stood up, pulling Emily up with him. He didn't let go of her hand.
"They were testing our response time," Dominic said, his tone cold as arctic ice. "Rostova wanted to see if I would defend Miss Parker with full force."
He looked down at Emily, his grip tightening around her fingers.
"Now he knows."
Dominic turned to Marcus. "Prepare the armored convoy. We are going into downtown Chicago tonight. To First Chicago Bank."
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"Tonight, Boss?" Marcus asked in surprise. "It's 4:00 AM!"
"Rostova will expect us to hunker down and defend the estate," Dominic growled, a lethal smile touching his lips. "We are going to open that safety deposit box before sunrise. And then... I am going to end Viktor Rostova once and for all."
