Chapter 5 - Midnight Shadows—When the Hunters Breach the Perimeter
Gabriel’s entire demeanor transformed in a fraction of a second. The gentle, intense suitor vanished, replaced instantly by the lethal, calculating Don of the Costa syndicate.
“Stay behind me,” Gabriel commanded, his voice dropping into a hard, metallic register.
He pulled a customized semi-automatic pistol from a hidden holster beneath his desk, racking the slide with a clean, practiced motion. He grabbed my wrist, pulling me out of the library and down a secure back corridor lined with reinforced steel doors.
“Mateo, lockdown protocol Beta,” Gabriel ordered over his radio earpiece. “Kill the exterior floodlights. Switch to infrared.”
Suddenly, the manor’s lights went out, plunging the grand hallway into darkness before faint red emergency strips illuminated the baseboards.
Outside, the muffled crack of suppressed gunfire echoed across the estate gardens. Glass shattered on the lower level.
“They’re inside the west wing!” a guard shouted over the comms. “Vane’s hit squad! They brought heavy breaching gear!”
Gabriel shoved me into a concealed panic room hidden behind a bookshelf in his private study. The room was reinforced with six-inch ballistic steel and contained a bank of tactical security monitors showing live feeds of the manor’s perimeter.
“Stay here, Shantel,” Gabriel said, his hands gripping my shoulders. “Lock the interior latch. Do not open this door for anyone except me or Mateo.”
“Gabriel, don’t go out there!” I cried, grabbing his sleeve. Fear gripped my throat—not for myself, but for him. “There are too many of them!”
Gabriel offered a cold, predatory smile. “This is my house, little restorer. They made a fatal mistake coming onto my land.”
Before I could say another word, he stepped out and the heavy steel door sealed shut.
I stared at the security monitors with my heart in my throat. On the screens, half a dozen masked men in tactical gear were advancing through the marble foyer with assault rifles raised.
Suddenly, Gabriel appeared on the second-floor mezzanine.
He didn't take cover. He moved with fluid, terrifying efficiency. Two rapid shots took down the lead intruders instantly. When the remaining gunmen returned fire, riddling the marble pillars with bullets, Gabriel vaulted over the railing, using the momentum to flank them from behind.
Mateo and three estate security guards converged from the dining hall. The firefight was violent, loud, and over in less than ninety seconds.
Gabriel moved through the smoke-filled foyer, checking each downed intruder with cold detachment. One wounded man tried to raise a sidearm, but Gabriel stepped on his wrist, pinning the weapon to the floor, before aiming his pistol directly between the man's eyes.
Gabriel leaned down, saying something on the comms, then fired a single finishing shot.
Ten minutes later, the electronic latch of the panic room clicked, and the heavy door slid open.
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Gabriel stood in the doorway. His sweater had a tear along the shoulder, and there was a streak of soot across his cheekbone, but he was completely unharmed. His eyes swept over me, ensuring I wasn't hurt, before the tension in his broad shoulders finally relaxed.
“They’re cleared,” he said quietly, extending a hand to me. “Pack a bag, Shantel. Vane is getting desperate. Which means it’s time for us to go on the offensive.”
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