Chapter 10 - The Ultrasound in the Dark and the King on His Knees
“Breach at the southern gate!” Sofia’s voice blared over the tactical comm unit on Roman’s belt. “Heavy explosives used! It’s Bennett! He brought two dozen mercenaries!”
Roman was on his feet in a fraction of a second. All the tenderness vanished, replaced by the terrifying, cold precision of a predator. He pulled a concealed sidearm from beneath his vest and chambered a round.
“Evelyn, into the panic room behind the hearth,” he commanded calmly, his voice steady as steel. “Sofia will seal it from the inside. There is independent air and food for three days. You do not open that door for anyone except me or Sofia.”
“Roman, no!” Panic surged through me, overpowering every remnant of resentment. I grabbed his arm, clinging to him. “They came for you! If you go down there—”
“They came for everything I love,” Roman said, pulling me toward the reinforced steel vault concealed within the stone fireplace. “And that means none of them leave this mountain alive.”
He pushed me gently into the secure room. Sofia was already inside, racking the slide of an assault rifle.
Roman looked at me one last time. He reached into his tactical vest, pulled out the worn, water-stained ultrasound photograph from Maine, and handed it to me.
“Keep her safe, Evelyn,” he said softly. “You are my wife. My queen. The only good thing I ever did.”
“Roman, please! Don't leave me!” I cried, reaching for him.
“I love you,” he said.
The heavy titanium blast door swung shut, locking with three massive pneumatic bolts. The sound of our world sealing away felt like a tomb closing.
On the security monitors mounted inside the panic room, I watched the nightmare unfold.
Julian Bennett’s mercenaries flooded the ground floor, blowing through the reinforced glass with shaped charges. Roman’s loyal men fought fiercely, but Bennett had brought overwhelming firepower.
Then I saw Roman.
He moved through the smoke like a vengeful shadow. Every shot he fired found its mark. He fought not with the reckless abandon of a mob boss, but with the lethal desperation of a husband defending his home.
On camera four, I saw Julian Bennett himself step into the grand foyer, flanked by three men. Bennett raised a rifle, aiming directly at Roman’s flank as Roman engaged two shooters near the staircase.
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“Roman! Look out!” I screamed at the silent monitor, slamming my hands against the screens.
A bullet struck Roman in the side. He stumbled, collapsing to one knee against the marble banister, blood blooming rapidly across his dark tactical vest.
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