Chapter 7 - The Inner Sanctum“Stay here,” Leo commanded, drawing a sleek, suppressed pistol from his holster with practiced, fluid speed.
“Leo—!”
“Stay in this room, lock the biometric door behind me, and do not open it for anyone unless I speak the passcode,” he ordered, his eyes blazing with absolute authority. He kissed the top of her head fiercely, once. Then he was gone, the heavy bedroom door clicking shut and sealing automatically.
Chloe’s heart hammered in her throat. She stumbled across the room, locking the heavy deadbolt, and stared at the security monitors mounted on the wall.
The screens flickered to life.
Infrared cameras showed shadowy figures moving through the ground-floor lobby. Viktor’s men had bypassed the exterior security through the underground service tunnels. Gunfire crackled through the audio feed—short, sharp, suppressed pops followed by the sound of glass shattering.
Leo’s guards were holding the line, but the infiltrators were pushing up the private elevator shaft.
Chloe backed away from the screen, her hands shaking as she rested them protectively over her swollen belly. “Be safe,” she whispered into the dark room, praying to whatever gods were listening. “Please keep him safe.”
Suddenly, the lights in the penthouse flickered and died, plunging the sprawling suite into emergency crimson backup lighting.
Clang.
A sound came from the balcony outside the master bedroom.
Chloe froze. Her breath caught in her lungs.
Slowly, deliberately, the sheer glass door leading to the tenth-floor balcony slid open with a soft hiss. The freezing October rain whipped inside, carrying the silhouette of a massive, heavily armed man stepping over the threshold.
He wore a tactical ski mask and carried an assault rifle equipped with a thermal scope.
His eyes locked onto Chloe standing in the red emergency glow of the bedroom.
“There she is,” a harsh, heavily accented voice hissed through the mask. “The Moretti breeder. The boss wants her alive, but the kid... well, accidents happen.”
Panic surged through Chloe’s veins, sharp and electric. She didn't freeze. The memory of Bradley’s insults, her brother’s stupidity, and the sheer hell she had fought through to protect this child crystallized into pure, unadulterated fury.
She backed up slowly toward the ensuite bathroom, her hand sliding behind her to grip a heavy marble perfume bottle resting on the vanity.
The intruder stepped into the bedroom, boots clicking wetly on the hardwood floor. He raised the barrel of his rifle, leveling it directly at her chest.
“Don't move, little bird—”
The bedroom door behind the intruder suddenly exploded inward in a shower of splintered mahogany.
Before the man could turn, a dark, unstoppable force slammed into him from behind.
It was Leo.
He hit the intruder like a freight train, driving the massive mercenary face-first into the hardwood floor with a bone-crunching impact. The rifle flew from the man’s hands, skidding across the room.
The mercenary fought back wildly, throwing a heavy punch that clipped Leo’s jaw, drawing a smear of dark blood. But Leo didn't even flinch. With cold, methodical brutality, he pressed his knee into the man’s spine and delivered two fast, crushing blows to the side of his head until the intruder slumped forward, completely unconscious.
Leo stood up slowly, his chest heaving, his knuckles bloody. He turned his head, his dark eyes instantly locking onto Chloe standing safely by the bathroom door.
“Are you hurt?” Leo demanded, his voice laced with feral panic as he crossed the room in two strides, grabbing her shoulders and checking her over from head to toe.
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“I’m fine! I’m fine!” Chloe gasped, tears spilling over her lashes as she grabbed his face, pressing her thumb against the cut on his jaw. “You’re bleeding—”
“It’s nothing,” Leo breathed, pulling her into his arms and burying his face in her neck, holding her so tightly she could feel the powerful, frantic thud of his heart against her ribs. “I told you... no one touches you.”
