The three men moved with an unsettling stillness that silenced the chaotic energy of the tavern instantly. Regulars who had been laughing a second prior suddenly found the condensation on their beer bottles intensely fascinating.

"Stay behind me and do not make a sound," Gabriel ordered, his voice commanding absolute obedience as he kicked the heavy dining table onto its side to create a barricade.

Heavy boots thundered down the hallway outside. The reinforced oak doors exploded inward under the force of a breaching charge, sending splinters flying like shrapnel.

Three heavily armed mercenaries in tactical gear poured into the room, assault rifles raised.

In a heartbeat, Gabriel fired twice. Two of the intruders dropped instantly with clinical precision. But the third swung his barrel toward Gabriel’s blind spot—straight toward Maeve.

Without hesitation, Maeve lunged forward, grabbing a heavy brass candelabra from the floor and smashing it with all her remaining strength across the mercenary’s helmet just as he pulled the trigger.

Crack! The bullet whizzed past Maeve’s ear, embedding itself deep into the stone fireplace, while the mercenary crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Gabriel whirled around, checking Maeve frantically from head to toe. "Are you hit?"

"No! I'm fine!" she gasped, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

Gabriel cupped her face in his free hand, his dark eyes burning with an intensity that defied the chaos surrounding them. "You saved my life."

"We're even now," she breathed shakily.

Suddenly, the intercom system across the mansion crackled to life, broadcasting Captain Miller’s triumphant, echoing voice through the halls.

“Gabriel Rossi! The game is over! Surrender yourself, and the girl walks away untouched. If you resist, we burn this entire cliffside fortress to the ground with both of you inside!”

Gabriel stared at the ceiling speaker, a slow, terrifying smile spreading across his face.

"He thinks he has won because he breached my perimeter," Gabriel whispered. He looked down at Maeve, taking her hand and slipping a heavy, diamond-encrusted silver signet ring onto her thumb—the ancient crest of the Rossi syndicate.

"What are you doing?" Maeve asked, breathless.

"Giving you the keys to the kingdom," Gabriel said softly. "Because if I don't walk out of here tonight, you are the only person alive whom my men will answer to."

Before Maeve could protest, Gabriel kicked open the secret service door leading down to the cliffside escape tunnels, pushing her inside.

"Run to the boat at the end of the tunnel. Don't look back."

"And you?!" Maeve screamed over the rising gunfire outside.