Chapter 6 - The Viper Strikes
The sanctuary was peaceful, but in Alessandro’s world, peace was an illusion paid for in vigilance.
Late that evening, inside his underground mahogany-paneled study, Alessandro sat behind a bank of security monitors. Luca poured two glasses of twenty-year-old Scotch, sliding one across the desk.
""Rossi has gone completely underground,"" Luca reported grimly. ""He abandoned his apartment in Queens. Our contacts at the ports say he hired a crew of rogue mercenary muscle from South Jersey. He knows he botched the hit, and he knows you won't stop until he's buried.""
""He's desperate,"" Alessandro said, staring at the amber liquid in his glass. ""A desperate dog attacks the front porch because he has nowhere left to run. He knows I moved Isabella and Sophia here. How did the leak happen?""
Luca hesitated, looking down. ""We checked the hospital registry. One of the night triage nurses had gambling debts to a bookie affiliated with Rossi’s old crew. She ran Sophia’s admission name for ten grand. Rossi knows everything, boss. He knows she's your daughter.""
Alessandro set his glass down with a resounding crack against the mahogany desk. ""Double the exterior guards. Set the perimeter sensors to active thermal tracking. If anything larger than a raccoon crosses the tree line tonight, I want it neutralized.""
Suddenly, the lights throughout the mansion flickered once, twice, and plummeted into pitch-black darkness.
A split second later, the backup generators kicked on with a deep mechanical groan, flooding the halls with amber emergency lights.
Over the radio on Luca’s hip, static exploded into panic: ""Breach at the north gate! They took out the transformer with an RPG! We've got multiple armed hostiles in tactical gear moving through the gardens!""
Gunfire erupted in the distance—sharp, staccato cracks of automatic rifles echoing across the manicured lawns.
Alessandro rose from his desk like a demon summoned from the abyss. He pulled a custom Glock from the hidden desk drawer, racking the slide with a cold, metallic snap.
""Luca, get Isabella and Sophia into the subterranean vault behind the wine cellar. Lock the blast doors.""
""Alessandro, you can't fight them in the hallways—""
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""This is my home!"" Alessandro roared, his voice shaking the timber of the study. ""They came here to slaughter my flesh and blood! No one walks out of this house alive except my family!""
Above them, the deafening bark of Max rang out through the ventilation shafts, followed by the sound of shattering glass on the second-floor terrace.
