The silence in Marius’s penthouse office didn’t just linger; it solidified like cooling lead. / Chapter 14 / 20

Chapter 14 - The Saint in WhiteBANG! BANG! BANG!

The glass chandelier above the baccarat table shattered in a shower of crystal sparks as Marius pulled his gun and dropped two of Katya’s guards before they could clear their holsters!

The VIP lounge erupted into utter chaos. High-stakes gamblers screamed, throwing themselves onto the velvet carpet as automatic gunfire chewed through the plush mahogany walls.

Marius grabbed my waist, throwing us both behind a heavy marble pillar as bullets chipped away at the stone inches above our heads.

"Bianca, I'm sorry!" Marius roared over the deafening thunder of gunfire, racking his slide and blind-firing around the pillar to kill another mercenary. "I was going to tell you! I was going to destroy the data files after we left Italy!"

I pulled my 9mm from my clutch, leaned out from the opposite side of the pillar, and put two rounds cleanly through the chest of an advancing guard.

"We are going to have a very long conversation about your honesty if we survive tonight, Marius!" I shouted back, my adrenaline burning away the tears in my eyes.

"Agreed!" he yelled back.

Katya was limping toward the private emergency exit at the back of the vault, protected by her two remaining heavily armed bodyguards.

"Cover me!" I yelled.

Before Marius could object, I broke cover, rolling across the green felt of a craps table, coming up on one knee. I squeezed the trigger three times. Both bodyguards dropped, hit precisely in the soft armor gaps beneath their throats.

Katya reached the heavy steel exit door, her hand frantically punching a code into the key pad. I sprinted across the room, grabbed her by her hair, and slammed her face violently against the steel frame!

Katya collapsed to her knees, blood streaming from her nose. I pressed the hot barrel of my gun directly against her forehead.

"Who is The Sovereign?" I growled, my finger tightening on the trigger. "Give me a name, Katya, or I will paint this steel door with what's left of your brain."

Katya looked up at me through bloodied eyes, letting out a wheezing, terrifying laugh.

"You really don't know, do you?" she spat, coughing up blood. "You think you're the hunter, Bianca? You think you're the hero of this story?"