Chapter 4 - The Glass Solarium
Christian didn't blink. He reacted instantly, moving with unnatural speed across the parquet floor. He reached the velvet settee just as a suppressed gunshot cracked through the laminated pane above them, shattering the reinforced glass into a shower of white crystal dust.
""Down!"" Julian barked, raising his weapon and firing three rapid rounds through the cracked glass into the pine trees flanking the property.
Christian dove, using his entire broad frame to cover Mia’s small body. He hit the floor hard, pinning the girl beneath his chest and leather-lined coat. Shards of safety glass rained down upon his back, bouncing harmlessly off his heavy tailored suit, though several needle-thin fragments cut deep into the flesh of his exposed neck and hands.
Underneath him, there was no hysterical shrieking. Instead, he felt a small, frantic squirm. Mia was struggling to pull her arm free from beneath his weight.
""Mia, stay still!"" Christian growled, his heart hammering against his ribs in a terrifying, unfamiliar rhythm. He wasn't afraid of death; he was terrified of crushing her.
""Bunny!"" she cried, her voice muffled against his lapel. ""I dropped Bunny! He’s on the sharp rocks!""
Christian glanced down. Just two inches past his elbow, the battered grey rabbit lay face-down on a pile of razor-sharp glass splinters. Another bullet thudded into the plaster wall right where Christian’s head had rested seconds earlier.
""Julian, flank through the eastern terrace! Take the shooter from behind!"" Christian commanded, his voice thunderous.
""Covering you!"" Julian replied, laying down a suppressing volley of fire before rolling through the patio doors into the rain-slick garden.
The sniper fire paused, the shooter likely repositioning to counter Julian’s flanking maneuver. Christian knew he had roughly four seconds before the next volley tore through the solarium. He gripped Mia by her waist with his left arm, lifting her completely off the floor as if she weighed nothing. With his right hand, ignoring the searing pain of sharp glass cutting into his palm, he scooped up the tattered plush rabbit.
He shoved the toy into her chest. ""Take the damn rabbit.""
Mia clutched the toy instantly, burying her nose into its ragged ear, completely ignoring the spray of blood dripping from Christian’s sliced knuckles onto her white pleated dress. She looked up at him through wide, saucer-like eyes, watching the crimson streak drip down his jaw from the glass graze on his cheek.
""You're bleeding,"" she whispered, reaching out with an innocent, uncalloused thumb to smudge the red smear across his cheekbone. ""It hurts?""
Christian stared at her, feeling a sensation in his chest so raw and foreign it paralyzed him for a heartbeat. ""No. It doesn't hurt.""
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Suddenly, the inner door of the solarium flew wide open. Serena stumbled in, holding an old iron fire poker she had scavenged from the library, her hair disheveled, eyes wild like a rabid animal protecting its den.
""Get away from her!"" Serena screamed, lunging directly at the mafia lord with the iron bar raised high.
