Chapter 2 - The Ambush in the North Wing“They’re early,” Silas murmured, his body instantly shifting into a lethal, coiled posture.
“Who?” Mara gasped.
“Graham didn't wait for tomorrow,” Silas said, his voice dropping into a low, metallic growl. “He hired a cleanup crew. They’re breaching the north wing right now.”
Footsteps—heavy, rushed, and boots-on-marble—began to echo down the grand hallway. Men with silenced sidearms and tactical gear were swarming the estate, bypassing the security cameras because someone with master override codes had turned them off from the inside.
Silas grabbed Mara by the arm, pulling her back toward the staff quarters. “Get Poppy into the floor safe beneath the pantry. Do not come out for any reason. If I don't return in twenty minutes, use the emergency tunnel behind the wine cellar.”
“And you?” Mara demanded, her eyes blazing with fierce defiance. “You’re bleeding from yesterday’s scuffle—you can’t fight an army bare-handed!”
“I built this house, Mara,” Silas said, a grim, terrifying smile touching his lips. “And I know every shadow in it.”
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He pushed her toward the kitchen, turning back into the corridor just as the first masked intruder rounded the corner.
Mara didn't hesitate. She scooped Poppy into her arms, ignoring the child’s whimpers, and bolted toward the pantry floor safe. She locked the heavy steel hatch just as the sound of muffled gunfire erupted overhead.
