Chapter 4 - Blood on the Rose Garden
Dominic let out a low growl of pain as the steel entered his ribs, but he didn't fall.
With a brutal headbutt that cracked Marcus's nose, Dominic broke the attack, grabbing Marcus by the throat and throwing him through the tall glass balcony doors.
The glass shattered into ten thousand glittering shards as Marcus tumbled out onto the rain-slicked balcony.
"Claire! Stay down!" Dominic shouted, staggering slightly as blood began to soak through the left side of his white shirt.
Outside on the balcony, Marcus scrambled to his feet, rain blinding him as he reached for the stone railing. He looked down into the courtyard—below, Victor Romano's men were advancing through the garden, firing blindly at the mansion's windows.
Dominic stepped out onto the balcony into the pouring rain, his wound bleeding heavily, his dark hair plastered to his forehead.
"It's over, Marcus," Dominic said, his voice carrying over the thunder. "Your war is finished."
"It's only starting, Dominic!" Marcus screamed, pulling a small flare gun from his vest pocket. He pointed it toward the sky and pulled the trigger.
A brilliant red light erupted into the dark clouds above the estate—the pre-arranged signal for his secondary strike force, sixty hired mercenaries waiting in the woods outside Lake Forest, to breach the gates and execute everyone inside, Caruso and Romano alike.
"They won't ask who is a Caruso and who is a Romano," Marcus laughed wildly, blood running down his chin. "They'll burn this place until nothing is left but ashes!"
Before Marcus could drop the flare, Ethan appeared on the balcony, raising his shotgun.
BOOM.
The blast caught Marcus in the chest, lifting him over the low stone balustrade. He fell thirty feet into the stone fountain below, his blood turning the rain-filled basin a dark, crimson red.
Dominic collapsed onto one knee, his hand clutching the stab wound in his side.
Claire ran out onto the rain-soaked terrace, ignoring the cold water soaking through her clothes. She dropped beside Dominic, ripping the hem of her apron and pressing it hard against his wound to stop the bleeding.
"Hold this!" she yelled to Ethan, who immediately took over pressing the bandage.
Dominic looked up at Claire through the rain, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "The flare... his men in the woods... they're coming."
"We have to get Lily," Claire said, her eyes burning with a sudden, fierce determination. "Mr. Caruso, can you walk?"
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Dominic looked at the small maid who had spent three years quietly polishing his glassware—now standing over him in a rainstorm, her face smeared with blood and water, showing more courage than half his captains.
"I can walk," Dominic growled, forcing himself up using the balustrade for support. "Ethan... gather every loyal man left. We retreat to the west bunker. And bring Victor Romano inside before Marcus's mercenaries cut his men to pieces."
