Chapter 4 - THE BREACHThe steel door didn't just open—it blew inward with a deafening screech of torn metal and hydraulic fluid.
Smoke billowed into the panic room. Through the haze, three masked figures stepped through the wreckage, automatic weapons raised.
I squeezed my eyes shut, gripped the Glock Adrian had handed me, and before my brain could process my own cowardice, I pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang!
The recoil nearly broke my wrist. The deafening roar of the gun inside the small concrete room made my ears ring instantly. I didn't hit anyone—I accidentally blew a massive chunk out of the ceiling tile, raining plaster down on our heads—but the sheer shock value of my panicked gunfire completely froze the intruders.
That split-second hesitation was all Adrian Kane needed.
With ruthless, terrifying efficiency, Adrian moved. Two rapid, muffled shots echoed through the room. Two of the masked men crumpled instantly to the floor. The third intruder raised his weapon toward Noah, but Adrian closed the distance in a blur of motion, slamming the butt of his gun into the man's temple.
The third mercenary dropped like a stone.
Silence descended upon the panic room once more, broken only by the hiss of the damaged ventilation system and my own ragged, hyperventilating breaths.
I dropped the gun. It clattered loudly against the concrete floor. My knees buckled, and I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor, staring at my hands as if they belonged to a stranger.
“Elena.”
Adrian was kneeling beside me in an instant. His hands gripped my shoulders, his gray-blue eyes frantically searching my face.
“Are you hit? Did they touch you?”
“I... I shot the ceiling,” I whispered hysterically, a breathless, nervous laugh escaping my lips. “I tried to shoot an assassin, and I attacked your drywall. I am officially the worst mafia sidekick in history.”
Adrian let out a breathless laugh, pulling me abruptly against his chest. His strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me so tight I could feel the frantic, heavy beat of his heart.
“You bought us the exact second we needed,” Adrian murmured into my hair, his voice fierce and trembling slightly—the first sign of true fear I had ever seen in him. “You saved my son, Elena. You saved us both.”
Noah stirred on the bench, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “Dad? Is the monster gone?”
“The monsters are gone, buddy,” Adrian said softly, pulling back from me just enough to cup my face in his large, warm palm. He brushed his thumb across my cheek, wiping away a smear of soot. “We’re safe.”
Outside the wrecked doorway, the sound of heavy tactical boots echoed down the corridor, followed by Marco’s frantic voice shouting, “Boss! Boss, report!”
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Adrian looked down at me, his gaze intense, possessive, and entirely undeniable.
“Stay close to me,” he whispered against my lips. “Because once we walk out that door, the whole underworld is going to know you belong to the Kane family.”
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