Chapter 6 - THE BLADE AND THE BRUTALITY
The masked mercenary didn't hesitate.
He raised his weapon, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Adeline didn't run.
She lunged forward with the speed and precision of a trained trauma surgeon executing an emergency incision.
She drove the heavy brass letter opener straight into the fleshy part of the mercenary's right shoulder, right over the brachial plexus.
The man let out a choked gasp of agony, his finger twitching harmlessly as his weapon clattered against the Persian rug.
Before he could recover, Adeline swept her leg behind his knee, using his own momentum to crash him hard onto the hardwood floor.
She slammed her knee down against his chest, pinning him instantly.
"Who sent you?" she demanded, pressing the blunt end of the opener against his throat.
The mercenary wheezed, spitting blood onto the rug, but a cold, twisted smile curled his lips.
"You... you think stopping me... stops the fire?" he choked out.
"The entire east wing... is rigged with thermite charges. The whole house goes up... with us inside."
Adeline's eyes widened in horror.
She didn't wait for him to say another word. She struck him across the temple with the heavy brass handle, knocking him out cold.
She scrambled off the floor, grabbed the leather folder off the desk, shoved it inside her apron, and bolted out of the study into the smoky hallway.
Downstairs, the battle was reaching a fever pitch.
Enzo Marchetti moved through the smoke of the east corridor like an avenging angel, his pistol flashing twice as two mercenaries dropped near the shattered library doors.
"Clear!" Enzo shouted over the din of the alarms.
"Boss!" Ambrose yelled, running up the main staircase.
"The library is rigged! We found three thermite charges near the structural columns!"
Enzo stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes darted up the stairs just as Adeline emerged from the third-floor landing, clutching her apron against her chest.
Their eyes locked across the smoky expanse of the grand foyer.
Enzo saw the blood on her sleeve—not hers, but the mercenary's.
He saw the fierce, unyielding determination in her posture.
"Adeline!" Enzo called out, sprinting up the steps toward her.
"Get out of the house! It's a trap!"
"I know," she yelled back, holding up the leather folder.
"And they came here for this!"
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Before Enzo could reach her, a massive explosion rocked the north courtyard, blowing out every window in the grand foyer and sending a wave of superheated air cascading up the staircase.
THE END OF CHAPTER 6
