Chapter 8 - Siege at the Estate
"Where is Marco?!" Luca demanded instantly, stepping in front of me shieldingly.
"He's in the lower gun vault with our security team!" Daniel reported as gunshots echoed from the grand courtyard outside!
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Glass shattered in the main foyer below. Marcus Bellini had launched a desperate, suicidal revenge strike against the Moretti estate to avenge his father's arrest and retrieve the incriminating files stored in Luca's vault.
Luca turned to me, his eyes filled with fierce, unyielding protection. He grabbed a small silver key from his pocket and pressed it into my hand.
"Claire, take the private elevator behind the bookshelf," Luca ordered, his voice echoing with absolute command. "It leads directly to the subterranean panic room beneath the carriage house. Stay inside until I come for you."
"No, Luca!" I cried, grabbing his arm. "I'm not leaving you!"
"Listen to me, Claire!" Luca said, taking my face in both of his hands, kissing me deeply and passionately on the lips—a kiss that tasted of fire, promise, and absolute devotion. "I just found my brother, and I just found the woman I love. I am not losing either of you tonight. Go!"
He pulled the hidden lever behind the bookshelf. The heavy wall swung open, revealing the steel door of the private elevator. Daniel pushed me inside and hit the subterranean button as the heavy iron doors slid shut.
The elevator descended rapidly into the depths of the estate.
Ten seconds later, the elevator doors opened into the cold, concrete passageway beneath the old carriage house.
I stepped out into the dim emergency lighting, my heart hammering like a war drum.
Suddenly, a dark shadow stepped out from behind a heavy concrete pillar!
"Well, well... if it isn't the heroic little housemaid," a sharp, venomous voice sneered.
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I froze.
Standing five feet away in the shadows, holding a small pearl-handled revolver, was Vanessa Bellini.
