Chapter 14
Despite the adrenaline coursing through his veins, Domenico’s mind remained sharply tethered to the room at the end of the upstairs hallway. The gunfire outside was a deafening symphony of violence, but his sole priority was the fragile life sleeping in the nursery. He keyed his earpiece, his voice eerily calm over the chaotic comms channel. "Tony. Status on the second floor." The response was immediate. "Secure, Boss. We have four men stationed outside Ruby's door. Nothing gets through this hallway." Domenico reloaded his weapon, the metallic click a comforting anchor in the madness. "Keep it that way. If anyone breaches the stairs, you burn the house down to stop them." He moved back inside, navigating the smoke-filled corridors. The attack was a distraction, a brute-force wave meant to draw his attention outward. Silas Cole was a tactician, and he would not rely solely on a frontal assault. Domenico checked the shadows, his senses heightened to supernatural levels. He knew the real threat was not the men dying on the lawn; it was the unseen blade waiting in the dark. He approached the grand staircase, his eyes narrowing as he noticed a subtle, unnatural shadow stretching across the marble floor. Someone had slipped past the outer defenses. The true test of the night was about to begin within the walls of his own sanctuary.
