Chapter 7 – [THE SIEGE OF THE ESTATE]

Gunfire echoed outside the massive stone walls of the compound.

Nico didn’t flinch. He pulled a heavy pistol from his desk drawer, checking the chamber. “Take Hannah, her mother, and Leo down to the vault. Lock it from the inside.”

“Nico, no!” I grabbed his arm. “There are too many of them!”

He stopped, his dark eyes softening for just a fraction of a second. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his grandmother’s real silver ring—the one Veronica had tried to steal. He pressed it into my palm.

“Keep this safe for me, Hannah. I’ll be back for it.”

Answer one: The attack was a desperate, final strike. Veronica knew the memory card existed and came to destroy the evidence before Nico could show it to the Mafia Commission.

Open two: How did they bypass the outer security gates so fast?

Before we could move toward the basement, the heavy mahogany doors of the study blasted open.

Veronica stood there, flanked by three massive Russian mercenaries. She was holding a gun, her dress torn, her makeup smeared. She looked like a cornered animal.

“It’s over, Nico,” she sneered. “Hand over the memory card and the boy, and I’ll let the maid and her mother live.”

Leo hid behind my legs, trembling.

Nico slowly raised his hands, the memory card pinched between his fingers. “You want it? Take it.”

He tossed it onto the Persian rug between them.

Veronica laughed triumphantly. She gestured for one of her men to pick it up.

But as the man stepped forward, the floor beneath him creaked.

Nico smirked. “Did you really think Arthur was your only inside man?”

Suddenly, the three Russian mercenaries turned their guns away from Nico—and pointed them directly at Veronica’s head.

Veronica gasped, dropping her gun. “What are you doing? I paid you!”

A tall man in a tailored suit stepped out from the shadows of the hallway. It was the head of the Volkov family.

“You paid us with stolen money, Veronica,” Volkov said smoothly. “But Nico offered us something better. Peace.”

He looked at Nico. “We received your message hidden in the watch, Moretti. Thank you for the heads-up about her treachery.”

Nico stepped forward, his presence filling the room. “Take her. The Commission will deal with her.”

As the men dragged a screaming, thrashing Veronica out the door, she locked eyes with me. “You’re just a maid! You’re nothing!”

I stood tall, holding Leo’s hand. “I’m the woman who exposed you.”

The room fell quiet. The threat was gone.

Leo looked up at me. He opened his mouth, his throat working hard.

And for the first time in two years, the little boy spoke.

“Safe,” he whispered.

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