Chapter 16 - The Breach at the Estate|
Dmitri left at seven-thirty with Anton and six armed guards.
The estate returned to its heavy, quiet routine. I spent the morning in the second-floor library, reading a book near the balcony doors, wearing a soft cream sweater and jeans.
At eleven o'clock, the power inside the mansion died.
The chandeliers flickered once, twice, and went completely black.
I stood up from my armchair, my heart instantly leaping into my throat. The soft hum of the air filtration system stopped.
Bzzzz.
My black iPhone vibrated in my hand.
I swiped the screen. It was an emergency text from Anton:
NEVER OPEN THE BALCONY. LOCK THE SUITE. MORETTI’S MEN ARE ON THE GROUNDS.
Before I could process the words, a sharp, muffled gunshot echoed from the driveway below—Phft! Phft!—followed by the frantic barking of the security dogs.
Screams erupted from the first floor.
I sprinted out of the library, running toward the grand staircase, but the sound of heavy boots scrambling up the marble steps made me freeze.
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Three men in dark tactical gear, holding suppressed submachine guns, burst into the second-floor hallway.
"There she is!" one of them shouted, pointing a gloved finger at me. "Julian wants her alive!"
