Elena didn't look up from her tablet right away.

The peace lasted less than forty-eight hours.

On a rainy Thursday morning, Elena sat in her new director's office on the second floor of Calder House, reviewing the scholarship distribution schedules for the upcoming semester.

Sophie was sitting on the plush rug near the fireplace, quietly drawing a picture with colored pencils.

Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of the office burst open.

Frank rushed in, his face bloodied, holding a suppressed pistol in his hand.

"Elena! Take Sophie and get to the panic room now!" Frank yelled, his voice tight with urgent panic.

Elena jumped out of her chair, pulling Sophie behind her back instantly. "Frank! What's happening?!"

"Vance made a deal with the Moretti syndicate out of Philadelphia!" Frank explained, checking the hallway behind him. "They just breached the front gates! They have forty armed men on the estate! Their target is Vincent!"

Before Elena could answer, the sound of heavy automatic gunfire echoed from the grand foyer downstairs, followed by the shattering of glass and the booming roar of explosions.

Sophie screamed, burying her face in Elena’s skirt.

"Go! Through the side panel!" Frank urged, pointing to a hidden bookshelf door behind the desk.

Suddenly, a heavy shotgun blast ripped through the office door, blowing Frank backward onto the floor.

Three men in tactical gear and dark masks burst into the room, holding assault rifles.

"Secure the woman and the kid!" the lead gunman barked into his radio. "Vance wants them alive! We use them to force Calder out of his bunker!"

Elena’s heart stopped. Fear, cold and absolute, gripped her chest. But as she looked at her terrified six-year-old daughter crying behind her, the fear instantly transformed into a burning, maternal fury.

She grabbed a heavy bronze statue from her desk and slammed it with all her strength into the lead gunman’s face.

The man grunted, stumbling back as blood spurted from his broken nose.

"You bitch!" another gunman yelled, grabbing Elena by her dark hair, throwing her violently onto the floor.

"Mommy!" Sophie shrieked.

The gunman lifted his rifle, aiming it directly at Elena’s head. "Shut up, kid, or I blow her—"

A thunderous sound, like the crack of lightning, shattered the room.

The gunman’s chest exploded in a spray of red, and he collapsed dead onto the rug.

Vincent Calder stood in the broken doorway.

He looked like a demon summoned from hell. His white dress shirt was soaked in blood, a heavy black assault rifle held firmly in his hands, his dark eyes burning with an incandescent, terrifying rage that could scorch the earth.

"Touch her again," Vincent whispered, his voice vibrating through the foundation of the house, "and I will tear your soul out."

The remaining two gunmen didn't even have time to raise their weapons.

Vincent fired three precise shots. The men fell dead instantly.

Vincent dropped his rifle, sprinting across the blood-soaked room, dropping to his knees, pulling Elena up into his arms, pressing his face into her neck, his body shaking violently.

"Elena... God, Elena," Vincent sobbed quietly, his arms wrapping around her like iron bands. "Are you hurt? Tell me you're not hurt!"

"I’m okay... I’m okay, Vincent," Elena cried, holding his blood-stained face in her hands. "Sophie’s okay!"

Vincent turned his head, reaching out with one broad arm, pulling Sophie tightly into their embrace. Sophie buried her face in Vincent’s neck, weeping loudly, her small hands clutching his bloody shirt.

"I’m sorry... I’m so sorry I brought this war to your feet," Vincent whispered, kissing Elena’s lips, her forehead, her hair with frantic, desperate devotion.

"We stand with you, Vincent," Elena declared, tears streaming down her face as she kissed his cheek. "We’re not going anywhere."

Vincent looked into her eyes, seeing no fear, no regret—only absolute, unshakeable love.

He stood up, pulling both of them to their feet.

"Frank," Vincent called out to the wounded guard, who was slowly sitting up against the desk. "Get them into the subterranean bunker under the cellar. Lock the vault from the inside."

"What about you, Vincent?" Elena asked, grabbing his hand.