Chapter 7 - The Lion’s Roar
The shockwave blasted upward, showering Elena and the children in pulverized mortar and choking dust. Elena lost her footing, her left foot dangling into empty air. Lily shrieked in terror against her back, clutching Elena’s hair with all her tiny might.
""Mom!"" Ethan screamed, reaching down from above with both hands, catching Elena’s wrist with astonishing strength for a seven-year-old boy. ""I've got you! Don't let go!""
Elena looked up into Ethan’s soot-stained face. In his fierce, unrelenting gaze, she saw the undeniable bloodline of Dante Moretto. Summoning every ounce of maternal adrenaline, Elena kicked her feet against the stone wall, found traction, and hoisted herself upward until she reached the iron grate at the top of the shaft.
Ethan helped her push the heavy grate aside. They tumbled out onto the dusty flagstones of the private wine cellar. Elena immediately unfastened the sheet and checked Lily. The toddler was coughing, her eyes bloodshot, but she was breathing fresh air.
""Ethan, are you hurt?"" Elena gasped, inspecting the boy's scraped arms.
""I'm okay,"" Ethan panted, his chest heaving. ""Where is Dad? He was right behind us!""
Before Elena could answer, the iron grate rattled violently. A soot-covered hand, stained with fresh crimson blood, gripped the stone lip of the hatch.
Elena gasped, stepping back defensively, but Ethan rushed forward. ""Dad!""
Dante hauled himself out of the dark hole, collapsing onto his knees. His bare chest was blackened with ash, his left forearm cut deep, but his eyes burned with an terrifying, unholy fury. In his right hand, he dragged a half-conscious man dressed in high-ranking security tactical gear.
""Marco..."" Elena breathed in horror.
It was Dante’s right-hand man, the head of his personal security, the very man who had verified the poison on the cake hours earlier.
Dante spat a mouthful of dark blood onto the stones and threw Marco against an oak wine cask.
""Twelve years,"" Dante growled, his voice a guttural rasp of betrayal. ""I brought you into my house. I gave you a seat at my table. And you sold my son to Castiglione for what? A share of the docks?""
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Marco chuckled weakly, blood leaking from his split lip. ""Castiglione... already knows, Dante. The hit on Ethan was just a diversion. Victor never cared about your boy. He wanted you to lockdown the estate so you would trap his daughter in one place. He's outside your gates right now with a hundred men.""
Dante looked at Elena, then at Lily, whose small face was buried in her mother's chest. Outside, the distant, thunderous rumble of dozens of armored vehicles broke the silence of the night.
