Chapter 3 - The Enforcer's SecretThe two enforcers raised their pistols, their eyes flicking toward my mother for the final command. But before my mother’s lips could form the word fire, a heavy metallic thud echoed from the corridor behind them.
One of the enforcers gasped, his eyes widening in shock as a blade pierced straight through his chest from behind. He collapsed instantly, revealing our longtime butler standing over him, blood dripping from a silenced tactical knife.
My mother’s composure shattered instantly. Her eyes went wide. “Marcus? What is the meaning of this? Have you lost your mind?”
The butler—Marcus, who had raised me since I was a boy—pulled the knife free and kicked the second enforcer’s weapon away before the man could react, slamming him face-first into the concrete wall until he went limp.
Marcus wiped the blade on his suit jacket, his face grim as he looked at my mother.
“I haven't lost my mind, Madam. I’ve just finally decided to serve the true head of the Rossi family,” Marcus said, his voice steady. He turned to me, offering me a spare submachine gun he had hidden under his coat. “Dante, take this. The estate is surrounded, but not by your mother’s men. Your loyalists from the European coalition arrived five minutes ago.”
I caught the weapon smoothly, stepping back to shield Grace as she trembled on the floor.
“You traitorous old fool!” my mother shrieked, lunging forward with a hidden derringer pistol pulled from her sleeve.
She aimed directly at Grace.
Without thinking, I raised my weapon and fired—not at my mother, but at the light fixture directly above her head. Sparks showered down in a blinding cascade, plunging the corridor into sudden darkness. A gunshot cracked through the air, the bullet burying itself harmlessly into the stone wall where Grace had been sitting a second before.
“Marcus, get Grace out of here! Through the utility tunnel!” I ordered, firing a warning burst into the ceiling.
“No! Dante, I won't leave you!” Grace cried out, clutching my arm as Marcus gently pulled her toward a hidden maintenance hatch behind the medical bed.
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“You have to! Save our baby! I’m right behind you, I swear!” I yelled over the chaos, pressing a kiss to her forehead before pushing her into Marcus's arms.
The heavy hatch slammed shut, locking automatically from the inside. I stood alone in the dark corridor, facing the mother who had birthed me and betrayed everything I loved.
