Chapter 4 - The Blackout Intrusion
Julian moved on instinct. He grabbed Elena by the shoulder, shoving her beneath the heavy mahogany desk. ""Stay down. Don't make a sound.""
Through the darkness, the distinct thud of silenced gunshots shattered the stillness of the upper floor. Glass exploded from the central skylight above the foyer. Julian reached into the drawer, drawing his concealed service pistol—a relic from his years before taking over the Vance industrial empire.
""Leo,"" Elena gasped, crawling out immediately. ""They're going for Leo!""
""Stay here!"" Julian hissed, but she was already moving toward the door, driven by a raw maternal instinct that disregarded every survival instinct.
Julian cursed under his breath, clicking the safety off his pistol and shadowing her into the corridor. The emergency lights flickered on, painting the walls in eerie crimson hues. Two men clad in tactical black uniforms were dragging a thrashing sack down the spiral staircase.
""Leo!"" Elena screamed, throwing herself up the stairs without hesitation.
One of the masked men turned, raising a silenced submachine gun. Julian lunged forward, firing two center-mass shots that dropped the mercenary to the marble steps with a hollow crash. The second man released the sack, dropping young Leo onto the landing, and drew a combat knife, rushing Julian with brutal precision.
Julian parried the blade, slamming his elbow into the attacker's throat, wrestling him over the balustrade. The man crashed onto the ground floor twenty feet below, breaking the marble display pedestal.
Elena threw herself over Leo, tearing open the canvas sack. The boy clung to her, shivering violently. ""Mommy... I heard the bad lady tell them to put me in the car trunk.""
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Julian stood breathing heavily over the body on the staircase. He knelt beside the dead mercenary and ripped off his mask. Tattooed along the operative's collarbone was a distinct insignia—the crest of the Saint-Claire cartel, Victoria’s secret offshore holding.
Footsteps echoed from the outer terrace. Julian ran to the floor-to-ceiling windows just in time to see a black SUV tearing through the iron gates, its rear lights disappearing into the storm. Victoria was gone.
