Chapter 6 - The Breach of Room 412
The heavy wooden door groaned under the weight of a third impact. The wood splintered around the lock, a sliver of light from the corridor breaking through the darkness. Leo's men weren't trying to be subtle anymore; they knew the clock was ticking, and they had been ordered to leave no witnesses.
"Step away from the door, Clara," Nicholas commanded, his voice a low, steady anchor in the middle of the storm. He moved to the side of the entrance, blending into the deep crimson shadows cast by the emergency lights.
I scrambled backward, crouching behind the heavy metal frame of the hospital bed, my heart in my throat. I held the paperback book in my hands like a useless shield, my knuckles aching from the grip.
With a violent crash, the door frame gave way. The door flew open, and two of Leo’s enforcers charged into the room, their weapons drawn, their eyes scanning the bed where they expected to find a helpless comatose man.
They never saw the shadow waiting in the corner.
Pfft. Pfft.
Two suppressed gunshots cracked through the room, incredibly quiet but completely lethal. The first enforcer dropped instantly, his weapon clattering across the floor. The second man spun around in shock, but Nicholas moved with a fluid, terrifying speed, driving the butt of his weapon into the man’s jaw before firing a third, decisive shot.
Both men lay still on the floor within three seconds. The efficiency of it was staggering. Nicholas didn't flinch, didn't hesitate; he simply bent down and retrieved the weapons from the fallen men, tossing a compact 38-caliber revolver toward me.
"Pick it up, Clara," he said, his eyes locked on mine. "I don't expect you to use it, but if someone comes through that door and I am not standing, you do not let them take you alive. Do you understand?"
I looked at the cold black steel on the floor. I had spent years treating wounds, healing bodies, preserving life. But as I looked at the men who had come to kill an innocent nurse just for doing her job, I realized that survival required a different set of rules. I picked up the gun, its weight surprising me, and stood up.
"I understand," I said, my voice steadying.
"Good," Nicholas said, checking the corridor through the broken door frame. "The floor is clear for now, but Mercer has locked down the elevators. We take the service stairs down to the basement. We get Matteo, and then we take the throne back."
We stepped out into the hallway, the red emergency lights painting the long corridor like the halls of purgatory. The hospital was eerily quiet; Leo had clearly cleared out the staff on this floor using Mercer’s authority. We were completely on our own.
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As we reached the heavy steel door of the service stairs, a sudden realization hit me. I looked at the man walking beside me—a man who had been a ghost just hours ago, now leading a war path through his own empire.
Leo Rossi didn't just underestimate Nicholas, I thought to myself. He woke up the devil himself.
