Chapter 3 - The Midnight Raid
I clamped my tiny hands over my mouth, pressing my back against the cold stone pillar outside the library.
Step. Step. Step.
Marco’s polished shoes clicked against the marble floor as he approached the door. I could hear his heavy breathing. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for him to grab me.
"Marco!" a loud voice boomed down the corridor.
It was Alejandro.
Marco immediately tucked the gun back into his holster and snapped to attention as Alejandro walked down the hallway, flanked by four heavily armed guards.
"Don Alejandro," Marco said smoothly, his voice dropping an octave. "Just checking the perimeter locks."
"Good," Alejandro said, his eyes sharp and calculating. He didn't seem to notice me tucked behind the shadow of the pillar. "Bring Dominic up from the cellar. He’s ready to talk."
"Right away, sir," Marco bowed, turning and walking away down the west wing.
I waited until their footsteps faded before running back to our suite as fast as my small legs could carry me. I burst into the room, gasping for breath, and grabbed my mother’s hand.
"Mama! Mama, we have to go!" I cried out.
Mama knelt down, alarmed. "Emma? What's wrong? Did someone hurt you?"
"Marco is bad! He was talking to a man named DeLuca on a computer! He’s going to turn off the lights at midnight and hurt Mr. Moretti!"
Mama’s face turned white as chalk. She knew I didn't lie about these things—she remembered how I had recognized Alejandro’s anaphylaxis earlier.
"Are you sure, Emma?" she whispered.
"He said he's going to turn off the security grid and bring men here!"
Mama took a deep breath, terror written across her face. "We have to tell Mr. Moretti right now."
We ran toward Alejandro’s private command center on the third floor. But before we could reach the double doors, the lights suddenly killed off.
The entire estate was plunged into pitch-black darkness.
BZZZZZT.
The low hum of the generator died, followed immediately by the sharp CLACK of the magnetic door locks disengaging across the mansion.
"They're here," Mama whispered in horror.
GLASS SHATTERING.
Heavy boots pounded against the hardwood floors from the floor below. Shouts, gunfire, and screams broke out down the grand staircase. The rival syndicate—the DeLuca family—had launched a full-scale assault on the compound.
"Elena! Emma!"
Alejandro’s voice cut through the dark. He appeared at the end of the hall, holding a tactical flashlight and an assault rifle, two loyal bodyguards behind him firing down the stairs.
"Get to the panic room!" Alejandro roared over the deafening sound of gunfire.
"Mr. Moretti, Marco turned off the grid! He’s the traitor!" I screamed over the noise.
Alejandro’s eyes flared with rage, but he didn't have time to process it. Suddenly, a flashbang grenade bounced up the stairs and rolled to our feet.
BANG!
A blinding white light and a ear-splitting pop exploded in the corridor. I was knocked backward, my ears ringing violently, the world spinning in high-contrast blurs.
Through the haze and smoke, I saw dark figures rushing up the stairs.
A hand grabbed my mother by her hair, dragging her away as she screamed my name. Another heavy hand reached down and grabbed the back of my pink sweater, lifting me off the ground.
"Got the kid!" a masked man shouted in a thick accent.
"Emma!" Alejandro roared through the smoke. He sprayed a volley of bullets toward the attackers, dropping two of them, but Marco stepped out from behind a pillar, aiming a shotgun at Alejandro’s chest.
"End of the line, Don," Marco grinned evil.
Alejandro didn't look at Marco. He looked at me, dangling in the air in the hands of a mercenary.
With blinding speed, Alejandro fired a single shot—not at Marco, but at the crystal chandelier hanging above the foyer.
The massive glass fixture shattered from its chain and plummeted down, crashing directly onto Marco and the advancing mercenaries in a chaotic explosion of iron and crystal.
In the confusion, Alejandro lunged forward, grabbed me from the falling guard, and pulled my mother into his arm.
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"The secret garden!" Alejandro yelled in my ear as red emergency lights began to pulse. "Emma, the key! NOW!"
Hook: But as we sprinted toward the hidden garden exit, we opened the iron door only to find Boss DeLuca himself waiting on the other side, surrounded by a dozen armed men, pointing a gun directly at my mother's head.
