Chapter 8 - The Shadow of the Dragon
By the time Lucas’s convoy roared through the shattered gates of the estate, the main house was quiet, filled with the smell of gunpowder and burning drapery.
Lucas slammed his car door open and ran into the foyer, his gun drawn, his face wild with panic.
"Bella!" he screamed, his voice echoing up the grand marble staircase. "ALEX! LENA!"
Dead bodies lay on the floor—Wendell’s mercenaries and two of Lucas’s security guards.
Lucas sprinted up the stairs, taking three steps at a time, his heart hammering against his ribs so hard it felt like his chest would burst. He pushed through the shattered doors of the nursery.
The room was empty.
The wardrobe was broken, the window was open, and a bedsheet hung out into the rain.
"No... no, no, no..." Lucas dropped his gun, collapsing to his knees beside a small wooden truck left on the rug. He picked up the toy, pressing it to his forehead, a ragged, heartbroken sob tearing out of his throat. "Not again... God, please, not again..."
He had lost his parents to fire. And now, he had lost his children to the darkness he had brought into their lives.
"Lucas?"
A soft, trembling voice came from the hallway balcony outside the nursery.
Lucas snapped his head up.
Standing in the doorway, soaked with rain, covered in mud and pine sap, was Bella. She was holding a heavy military pistol in one hand, her face bruised, her clothes torn.
Behind her, shivering under a large wool coat, were Alex and Lena—completely unharmed.
Lucas stood up, staring at them as if seeing a miracle.
"Bella..." he whispered.
"I hid them in the old icehouse behind the gardens," Bella rasped, her hands finally giving out, dropping the heavy gun to the floor. "I... I remembered you said the icehouse had concrete walls three feet thick..."
Lucas crossed the room in two strides.
He didn't care about the mud, he didn't care about the rain, he didn't care about his pride. He threw his arms around Bella, pulling her against his chest with a desperate, crushing intensity, burying his face in her neck.
"You saved them," Lucas wept openly, his large body shaking against hers. "You saved my children..."
Bella, exhausted beyond measure, wrapped her arms around his back, feeling the hot tears spilling from the terrifying mafia boss onto her shoulder.
"They are our children, Lucas," she whispered softly.
May you like
Alex ran forward, wrapping his arms around Lucas's leg, while tiny Lena squeezed herself between them.
Lucas dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around all three of them, holding his family tight in the ruined room, the shadows of his past finally beginning to recede.
