Chapter 7 - The Ambush at the GatesThe silence of the Westchester estate was shattered at 2:14 AM by the shrill scream of perimeter motion alarms.
In the master control room, Dominic was on his feet instantly. The monitors flickered to life, displaying thermal imaging of three black vans breaching the outer wrought-iron security gates, deploying a dozen armed mercenaries carrying suppressed tactical rifles.
Salvatore Rizzi’s loyalists. They hadn't waited. They had come to burn the Moretti empire to the ground by targeting its weakest link.
“Lock down the residential wing!” Dominic commanded into his tactical radio, his voice dropping into absolute, terrifying commander mode. “Vance, secure the panic room with Lily and the medical staff. Do not let anyone—do not let me—open that door unless I give the biometric override code.”
“Copy that, Boss!”
Dominic didn't wait for backup. He unlocked his weapons locker, pulled out a customized Sig Sauer P226 and an HK416 assault rifle, and stepped out into the grand marble foyer just as the front glass doors exploded inward in a storm of shattering shards and gunfire.
The battle was fast, brutal, and utterly ruthless.
Dominic moved through the shadows of his own home like an avenging angel. Every corner, every hallway, every pillar was a defensive advantage he knew by heart.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Mercenaries dropped like bowling pins, neutralized before they could even locate their targets.
Within ten minutes, the foyer was silent, save for the acrid smell of cordite and smoke hanging heavy in the air.
Dominic stepped over an unconscious gunman, his rifle raised, walking slowly toward the front entrance to verify the perimeter was secure.
Then, his phone buzzed in his tactical vest.
It wasn't Vince. It was an unknown, encrypted burner number.
Dominic answered, his finger still resting on the rifle trigger. “Talk.”
A smooth, distorted voice hissed through the speaker: “Impressive defense, Dominic. But you forgot one detail. You locked down the mansion... but you didn't check who was hiding in the guest cottage near the helipad.”
Dominic’s blood ran cold.
May you like
Lily.
During the chaos of Sophia’s transfer, Lily’s favorite coloring book had been left in the medical transport van parked near the guest cottage. And Sophia’s head nurse had taken Lily out there just before the alarms sounded.
