Chapter 3 - THE MARK OF THE VIPER
The blaring klaxon turned the luxurious estate into a high-tech fortress under siege. Steel blast shutters slammed down over the soaring floor-to-ceiling windows, sealing us into an impenetrable bunker of stone and titanium.
Dominic didn't flinch. He carried Lily with an effortless, protective strength, his broad shoulder acting as a shield between my daughter and the chaos. With his free hand, he drew a matte-black customized SIG Sauer from his shoulder holster, thumbing the safety off with a crisp, practiced click.
"Stay behind me, Clara," he ordered, his voice steady as steel. "Not one step away."
We moved swiftly down the fortified hallway leading toward the master wing. Ethan was already being escorted by Dr. Harris and two personal bodyguards toward the panic room. When the boy saw Lily, his tear-streaked face lit up with desperate relief.
"Lily! Clara!" Ethan cried out, rushing forward despite his bodyguard’s outstretched arm. He threw his small arms around my waist, trembling. "Dad, what’s happening? Is the man coming back?"
"No one is touching you, Ethan. Neither you nor Lily," Dominic promised, placing a hand on his son's head while scanning the cross-corridor with lethal precision. "Dr. Harris, get them inside the vault."
Suddenly, a muffled gunshot echoed through the ventilation shafts above us, followed by the sickening sound of metal buckling.
From the end of the corridor near the private elevator, a figure stumbled out. It was one of Moretti’s junior guards—his throat slit, blood staining his white collared shirt as he collapsed onto the parquet floor. Behind him stepped a tall, wiry man dressed in the estate’s tactical security uniform.
The intruder held a suppressed submachine gun, his eyes wide with desperate frenzy.
"Moretti!" the intruder snarled. "You shouldn't have locked the gates!"
My breath froze. On the intruder’s right hand, curling from beneath his tactical glove toward his thumb, was the vivid green ink of a coiling viper.
Lily gasped, burying her face into Dominic’s neck. "Mommy, that’s the cake man!"
In less than half a second, Dominic shoved me and Ethan behind a marble pillar, pivoted, and raised his weapon. The intruder raised his submachine gun to spray the hallway, but Dominic fired three rapid, deafening shots.
The first bullet struck the intruder’s gun hand, shattering the weapon into pieces. The second hit his right kneecap. The man shrieked in agony, collapsing to the floor in a pool of his own blood.
Dominic didn't fire the third shot to kill. He walked forward with terrifying, deliberate strides, his polished leather shoes crunching over the shattered weapon. He planted his boot firmly onto the intruder's shattered knee, applying just enough pressure to make the man scream until his vocal cords tore.
"Who paid you?" Dominic asked softly. "Which faction of the Brooklyn docks?"
The man spat blood onto the floor, grinning through gritted, crimson teeth. "You think... you think it’s just the docks, Moretti? Look closer to home. Falcone sends his regards. Your boy was supposed to choke tonight... and your little housekeeper’s kid won't live to see sunrise."
Dominic’s eyes darkened into an abyss. Without shifting his expression, he brought the butt of his pistol down across the man’s jaw, knocking him cold.
Dominic turned back to his men who had rushed into the hallway. "Tie him up. Strip him. Administer adrenaline so he doesn't slip into shock. I will conduct the interrogation myself in ten minutes."
He then turned to look at me. I was shaking, my arms wrapped tightly around Ethan, trying to shield both children from the carnage. Dominic walked over, his eyes softening as he looked at my trembling hands. He gently wiped a speck of drywall dust from my cheek.
"You're safe, Clara," he murmured, his thumb lingering against my skin for a heartbeat longer than necessary. "I swear on my life, no one touches your daughter."
May you like
Just then, Dr. Harris ran out of the medical room, holding a tablet with wide, horrified eyes. "Mr. Moretti! We ran the toxicology on the frosting sample again... It wasn't just Ethan's allergen. It was laced with a synthetic nerve toxin designed to activate when exposed to stomach acid. It was engineered specifically in a private lab owned by your own council."
Dominic turned his head slowly. The betrayal wasn't coming from an outside rival. The poison had been supplied by someone seated at his own high table.
