Chapter 10 - Breach at Dawn
Chaos erupted across the sprawling Santoro estate as the heavy automatic gunfire echoed through the misty morning air. Glass shattered from the upper guard towers as Viktor Vance’s mercenaries launched a coordinated, full-scale assault designed to wipe out the leadership in one fell swoop.
"Get Tessa to the underground panic room," Leo commanded instantly, his voice cutting through the noise with absolute authority as he drew his Sig Sauer pistol from his shoulder holster.
"No!" Tessa snapped, grabbing a secondary tablet linked to the estate’s defense grid from the desk. "I'm not hiding in a hole while you fight my war! I control the security drones and the automated gates from this terminal. If I go to the panic room, our defense grid goes blind!"
Leo looked at her, a fierce, protective terror warring with absolute pride in his dark eyes. There was no time to argue. "Stay behind me," he growled, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the reinforced steel panic door built seamlessly into the library's mahogany bookshelf.
Bullets slammed through the library windows, riddling the expensive oil paintings and splintering the wooden bookshelves into a storm of debris. Enforcers flooded the corridor outside, returning fire with deafening submachine gun bursts.
"They're trying to flank us through the conservatory!" Salvatore yelled over the comms earpiece, his voice laced with strain. "Hold the line!"
Tessa’s fingers danced across the tablet screen, activating the estate's automated security defenses. Outside, heavy steel blast shutters dropped across the lower-level windows, trapping the invading mercenaries in the open courtyard. Turrets hidden within the landscaping rotated automatically, pinning down Viktor’s men in a furious crossfire.
"Leo, look out!" Tessa screamed, shoving him hard to the side.
A sniper round shattered the marble pillar inches from where Leo had been standing. Without missing a beat, Leo spun around, raised his pistol, and fired three rapid shots through the broken window frame. A muffled cry echoed from the courtyard as Viktor’s rooftop sniper plummeted to the ground.
"We have to counter-attack," Tessa breathed heavily, her heart hammering against her ribs, adrenaline pumping through her veins. "If we stay on the defensive, they'll bring in explosives and blow this entire wing sky-high."
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Leo caught her gaze, a dark, dangerous smile spreading across his face—the look of a man entirely in his element. "You want to take the fight to them?"
"I want to finish this once and for all," Tessa declared fiercely.
