Chapter 5 – THE SECURITY CHIEF’S TREASON IN THE MANSION

A sickening crack echoed through the foyer.

Marco screamed, a raw sound of pure agony, as his leg buckled beneath him.

The gun fired wildly into the vaulted ceiling, sending a shower of plaster raining down on us.

I didn’t wait to see him fall.

I scooped Sophie into my arms and sprinted toward the narrow servant’s hallway beneath the stairs.

Chaos exploded behind me.

Luca didn’t freeze.

The moment Marco’s gun discharged, the mafia boss lunged.

He didn’t go for Marco. He went straight for the scarred man holding Caroline.

With terrifying speed, Luca drove his elbow into the man’s throat.

The thug choked, dropping his weapon.

Luca grabbed Caroline by the waist, shoving her forcefully behind a massive marble pillar just as the other two intruders raised their rifles.

Gunfire shattered the antique mirrors in the hallway.

I burst through the swinging doors into the mansion’s massive kitchen, locking the deadbolt behind me.

It wouldn’t hold them for long, but it bought us seconds.

“Miss Rachel, I’m scared!” Sophie sobbed, clutching my neck so tightly I could barely breathe.

“I know, honey. I know,” I gasped, setting her down. “But we have to be brave right now.”

I looked around the stainless-steel industrial kitchen.

It was a dead end.

The only exit was the delivery door, which required Marco’s security badge to open.

Footsteps pounded against the swinging doors.

Someone kicked the wood. It splintered heavily.

“Open the door, maid!” a muffled voice yelled. “Or we shoot through it!”

I pushed Sophie under the heavy butcher-block prep table, hiding her behind a stack of flour sacks.

“Don’t make a sound,” I whispered, kissing her head. “Keep the pink scarf on. I love you.”

I grabbed the largest chef’s knife from the magnetic rack.

My hands shook violently.

The door hinges groaned as another heavy kick slammed into the wood.

Suddenly, the kicking stopped.

A strange silence fell over the hallway.

Then, a voice I despised echoed clearly through the splintered wood.

“Stand down, boys.”

It was Vanessa.

Marco must have let her out of the study before confronting Luca.

“Rachel,” Vanessa’s voice was honey-sweet and dripping with poison. “Open the door. I just want to talk.”

“Go to hell!” I screamed back.

Vanessa laughed.

“Such language for a housekeeper. Listen to me carefully, Rachel. Marco has Luca pinned down in the foyer. The house is surrounded by my family’s men.”

My heart hammered against my ribs.

“What do you want?” I yelled.

“I want the child,” Vanessa said simply. “Hand Sophie over to me, and I’ll let you walk out the back door. You can go home to your crippled mother and never think about us again.”

I tightened my grip on the knife.

“She’s not yours!”

“She’s my leverage!” Vanessa snapped, her patience vanishing. “If Luca dies tonight without me having custody of that brat, his empire goes to his lieutenants. I need her alive to inherit!”

I looked under the table.

Sophie was covering her ears, crying silently.

“I’m not giving her to you,” I said firmly.

“Fine,” Vanessa said coldly. “Break it down.”

The men hit the door with a battering ram.

The deadbolt snapped.

The heavy doors flew open, crashing against the stainless-steel counters.

Two armed men stepped in, followed by Vanessa.

She was still wearing the red silk gown, but she had a small, silver revolver in her hand.

She spotted me instantly.

“Where is she?” Vanessa demanded, pointing the gun at my chest.

I stood tall in front of the prep table, hiding the knife behind my apron.

“She ran out the delivery door,” I lied.

Vanessa sneered. “The delivery door requires a badge. You don’t have one.”

She took a step toward me.

And that was when we all heard it.

The unmistakable, mechanical click of a shotgun racking a shell.

Vanessa froze.

The two armed men spun around.

Standing in the doorway of the pantry, holding a massive pump-action shotgun, was the seventy-year-old estate cook, Mrs. Higgins.

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