Chapter 14 - Blood on the Piano
Ten minutes later,
the screech of tires echoed across the stone courtyard outside.
Dominic slammed through the front doors,
his gun already drawn,
Marcus close behind him with a tactical squad.
They burst into the library to find Vincent Rossi tied securely to a heavy oak chair with velvet curtain ropes,
his nose bloody and his head drooping.
Ruby sat on the edge of the leather sofa,
holding a cup of tea,
the black journal resting on the coffee table beside her pistol.
Dominic dropped his weapon and rushed to her side,
his hands grasping her shoulders,
his dark eyes wild with terror and panic.
"Ruby! Are you hurt? Did he touch you?" Dominic demanded,
his voice cracking with raw emotion.
"I'm fine,
Dominic,
" Ruby said gently,
reaching up to touch his face.
"Vincent tried to take your home from you,"
"but I stopped him."
Dominic looked from Ruby to the tied-up lieutenant,
then down at the black journal on the table.
As Marcus picked up the journal to inspect the evidence,
a sudden sound shattered the calm outside.
The sound of heavy automatic gunfire erupted from the front gates,
followed by the explosion of an outer security booth.
"Boss!" Marcus yelled,
stepping toward the window.
"Vance's hit squad is here! Vincent must have set a timer on his signal!"
"They are storming the main entrance!"
Dominic stood up,
his face hardening into an expression of absolute,
uncompromising death.
"Marcus,
fall back to the inner sanctuary!" Dominic ordered.
"Hold the stairwell!"
Dominic grabbed Ruby’s hand,
pulling her out of the library and up the private staircase toward his top-floor sanctuary.
Shouts,
shattering glass,
and intense gunbattles echoed through the mansion halls below as Dominic's loyal guards engaged Vance's assault team.
Just as they reached the grand piano room on the top floor,
a rogue assassin burst through the double doors behind them,
firing a burst of automatic rounds.
Dominic reacted instantly,
shoving Ruby behind the heavy ebony piano as he returned fire with two precise shots to the assassin's chest.
The assassin collapsed,
but a stray bullet grazed Dominic's side.
Dominic stumbled back,
gasping as blood began to soak through his white dress shirt,
staining the dark fabric.
"Dominic!" Ruby cried out,
rushing to his side as he fell back against the piano keys,
producing a loud,
jarring dissonance.
"It's just a scratch,
" Dominic wheezed,
clutching his ribs,
his face growing pale.
"I can still fight."
"No,
you stay down!" Ruby commanded,
tearing a strip of fabric from her apron to press firmly against his bleeding side.
The gunfire downstairs began to quiet as Marcus's team successfully pushed the remaining attackers back into the courtyard.
Dominic lay against the base of the piano,
his eyes fluttering shut as exhaustion and blood loss took their toll.
"Don't you dare close your eyes,
Dominic Vale!" Ruby shouted,
her voice trembling with emotion.
"Look at me!"
Dominic opened his eyes weakly,
looking up into her tear-filled face.
"I'm...
so tired,
Ruby,
" he whispered softly.
"The quiet is coming back."
"No,
it isn't!" Ruby said fiercely.
She placed her hands on his cheeks,
pulled him close,
opened her mouth,
and began to sing.
She sang a powerful,
soaring lullaby of love,
survival,
and strength,
her voice vibrating through the wood of the grand piano,
echoing off the glass walls,
shattering the creeping silence of death.
Her voice was a beacon in the dark,
a tether holding his soul to the earth.
Dominic listened,
feeling the life returning to his veins with every soaring note she hit.
May you like
He squeezed her hand tightly,
refusing to let go of the warmth that saved him.
