Chapter 9 - The Siege of the Estate
"Drop the gun, Victor."
The voice was like frozen thunder.
Adrian Moretti stood in the doorway. He wasn't alone. Four of his most elite enforcers flanked him, their weapons drawn and locked dead onto Victor Vance.
Adrian’s face was a mask of murderous, apocalyptic rage. The dark eyes that usually held sorrow now burned with the absolute fury of a cornered lion. He had sensed the trap at the warehouse in time, turned the tables on Victor’s assassins, and raced back to the estate just in time.
Victor froze, the silenced pistol still half-raised. He glanced at Adrian, then at the armed enforcers blocking every exit. Slowly, a twisted smile crept across his lips.
"You think you won, Adrian?" Victor sneered, his finger twitching on the trigger. "If I go down, I'm taking your little girlfriend with me!"
Before Victor could pull the trigger, a small, high-pitched scream echoed from the hallway.
"Daddy! Ms. Claire!"
Noah, Caleb, and Miles had woken up from their nap and wandered out of the library, walking right into the line of fire.
"Get back!" Adrian roared, his composure cracking for a fraction of a second as panic surged through his veins.
Distracted by the boys' sudden appearance, Victor whipped the gun toward the doorway.
That microsecond of distraction was all Adrian needed.
With blinding, explosive speed, Adrian lunged across the room like a striking panther. He slammed into Victor with bone-crushing force, tackling the traitor across the hardwood floor. The silenced pistol flew from Victor’s hand, skittering across the room.
The enforcers swarmed forward, pinning Victor to the floor with ruthless efficiency.
"Get him out of my sight," Adrian growled, his chest heaving as he stood up, his knuckles bruised and bleeding. "Lock him in the lower holding cells. We'll deal with him tonight."
As the guards hauled the thrashing, screaming traitor out of the room, absolute silence reclaimed the art studio.
Adrian turned around slowly. His dark gaze landed on Claire, who was standing by the easel, shaking from head to toe, holding her phone tightly in her hand.
In two long strides, Adrian crossed the room, grabbed Claire by the shoulders, and pulled her hard against his chest, burying his face in her hair as his own body shook with delayed terror.
"Are you hurt?" Adrian whispered fiercely, his voice cracking. "Did he touch you?"
"I'm... I'm okay," Claire breathed, wrapping her arms around his waist, holding onto him for dear life. "I'm okay, Adrian."
From the doorway, three little boys peeked in, their eyes wide with fear.
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Adrian pulled back slightly, looking at Claire, then looking past her at his sons. He walked over to the doorway, knelt down, and pulled Noah, Caleb, and Miles into a tight, fierce embrace, burying all three of them against his chest.
"You're safe," Adrian whispered to his sons, his voice thick with emotion. "I've got you. You're safe."
