Chapter 7 - The Blind Man’s Strike
The two intruders separated near the base of the floating glass staircase.
One moved toward the study; the second turned toward the living room, his boots making faint, wet squeaks against the polished slate floor.
Claire squeezed her eyes shut in the pitch darkness, pressing herself flat against the stone chimney wall. She couldn't see a thing.
Then, she felt Adrian move away from her.
He didn't make a sound. He moved like a shadow through his own home—a man who had spent a year learning every step, every angle, every distance without relying on light.
The intruder stepped into the living room, raising his silenced weapon toward the sofa.
A sudden, sharp metallic sound echoed from the far left corner—a brass vase sliding across a table.
The intruder spun toward the sound, raising his gun.
In that exact second, Adrian stepped out from the deep shadow directly behind him.
With terrifying speed and precision, Adrian’s left hand seized the intruder’s gun wrist, twisting it upward with a sharp, sickening crack. The gun fell onto the rug.
Before the intruder could scream, Adrian’s right elbow struck him squarely in the throat, followed by a devastating knee to the abdomen that dropped the man instantly to his knees, gasping for air.
Adrian swept his leg, knocking the man flat onto his back, and secured his arm behind his torso in a professional restraint lock.
“Clear!” Adrian called out toward the hallway.
The second intruder backed out of the kitchen, hearing his partner drop, but as he turned toward the entrance, the heavy oak front doors burst open.
Flashlights swept across the hallway as Marco and four heavily armed private security guards swarmed the entrance, weapons raised.
“Freeze! Drop your weapon!”
The second intruder dropped his gun immediately, raising his hands into the air as the guards tackled him to the floor.
The emergency lights clicked on, flooding the room with stark white illumination.
Claire ran out from behind the fireplace, her face pale, looking frantically around the room.
Adrian stood in the center of the hall, holding the first intruder pinned to the floor. His tuxedo shirt was slightly rumpled, his dark hair falling across his forehead, his gray eyes blazing with absolute, victorious power.
He handed the man over to Marco, then turned around to look at Claire.
He didn't grab his dark glasses.
He walked straight to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her tight against his chest in front of all six security guards.
“Are you hurt?” Adrian asked frantically, his hands searching her face, her shoulders, checking every inch of her. “Claire, did they touch you?”
“No,” Claire breathed, burying her face in his neck, her hands clinging to his shoulders. “No, I’m fine. You... you stopped them.”
Marco stepped forward, holding a satellite phone.
“Boss,” Marco said grimly. “We traced the security breach. The house access codes were downloaded two hours ago from an internal server at Vale Meridian headquarters.”
Adrian pulled back from Claire, his jaw set like granite as he looked at Marco.
“Whose IP address?” Adrian demanded.
May you like
Marco looked down at his tablet.
“Harrison Vale.”
