Chapter 5 - THE ESCAPE TO ESTATE VALE
They descended the narrow concrete stairs in darkness, guided only by the tactical flashlight attached to Damian's weapon.
The sounds of heavy gunfire and shouting echoed from the upper corridors, but Damian moved with absolute, calculated precision, shielding Elena with his body at every corner.
They reached the subterranean floor—a private, concrete bunker located three levels beneath the hotel's public parking garage.
A massive, slate-grey armored SUV sat idling in the center of the bay, its bulletproof glass three inches thick.
Marcus threw open the heavy rear door. "Get in! The street exit is clear for two minutes!"
Damian helped Elena into the plush leather interior, sliding in beside her as Marcus slammed the door shut and leaped into the driver's seat, flooring the accelerator!
The heavy vehicle roared forward, smashing through a temporary security gate and bursting out into the rainy dark streets of Manhattan!
Behind them, two black sedans swerved out from an alleyway, their high beams flashing as automatic rifle fire peppered the rear glass of the SUV with deafening, metallic thuds!
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Elena gasped, ducking down onto the floorboards, holding her stomach tightly.
"Stay down!" Damian ordered, leaning over the back seat, lowering a small firing port in the rear door, and shooting four precise rounds into the front tire of the lead chasing vehicle!
The chasing sedan blew a tire at seventy miles per hour, spinning violently across the wet asphalt before slamming into a concrete divider in a shower of sparks!
The second sedan swerved to avoid the wreckage, dropping back into the misty night.
Marcus navigated the vehicle onto the Long Island Expressway, speeding toward the private coastal estates of the Vale family.
Elena sat back up on the leather seat, her chest heaving, her hands still trembling violently.
Damian put his weapon away, pulling a warm wool blanket from the side compartment and wrapping it gently around her shoulders.
"Are you hurt?" Damian asked, his dark eyes filled with genuine concern as he checked her face and hands. "Did the baby get stressed?"
"I'm... I'm okay," Elena breathed, looking at him in awe. "You... you shot their tire at seventy miles per hour."
"I've had practice," Damian said flatly.
He reached down, gently placing his large, warm hand over her abdomen. Elena didn't pull away. She felt a strange surge of warmth spread through her body at his touch.
"He's kicking," Damian murmured softly, a rare, faint smile touching his lips.
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Elena blinked, surprised. "How do you know it's a boy?"
Damian met her eyes in the dim light of the cabin. "Because he has a warrior for a mother. He couldn't be anything else."
