A DEBT WRITTEN IN BLOOD

The sirens blared thirty minutes after Dominic left.

I was in the children's wing with Gia and Nico. The red emergency lights bathed the hallway in a sinister glow. The head of security, a giant man named Marcus, burst through the doors.

"They're hitting the gates, Miss Lily," Marcus said, his voice tight. "A massive strike force. They brought explosives. We need to get you and the kids to the underground bunker now."

"It was a distraction," I realized aloud. "Danny was bait to get Dominic out so they could hit the estate while it was weakened."

I grabbed Gia's hand, Nico holding onto my other. We ran down the winding staircases, the sound of automatic gunfire echoing from the front courtyard. The Morettis had brought a small army.

We reached the steel door of the bunker deep in the basement. Marcus punched in the code, ushering us inside. "Lock it from the inside," he ordered. "Don't open it for anyone but me or the Boss."

"Marcus, what about you?" I asked.

"I hold the line," he said grimly, closing the door. The heavy lock slid into place.

Inside the bunker, it was quiet, stocked with food, monitors, and weapons. The twins were terrified, huddled together on a cot. I sat beside them, wrapping my arms around them, trying to project a calm I didn't feel.

I walked over to the security monitors. The cameras showed absolute chaos. Dozens of Moretti soldiers were storming the mansion. Dominic's guards were fighting valiantly, but they were outnumbered.

Then, the camera in the basement hallway flickered. Three men in tactical gear were blowing past the secondary security doors. They were heading straight for the bunker.

They had a thermal breaching charge.

My father's voice, calm and steady, whispered in my mind. Panic kills. Think. Use what you have.

I looked around the bunker. There was a weapons rack. I had never fired a gun in my life, but I had watched my father clean his service weapon a thousand times. I grabbed a Glock 19, my hands shaking, and checked the magazine. Loaded.

I knelt in front of the twins. "Gia, Nico. Listen to me. I need you to go into the ventilation grate behind the cot. Crawl as far back as you can and do not make a sound. Understand?"

"Lily, I'm scared," Gia cried softly.

"I know, baby. But I won't let them hurt you. I promise." I kissed their foreheads and shoved them into the crawlspace, replacing the grate.

I turned off the lights in the bunker, plunging it into darkness. I stood behind the reinforced steel table, raising the heavy gun, pointing it at the door.

Hiss. Bang.

The bunker door blew open in a shower of sparks and smoke. Three men stepped in, their flashlights piercing the darkness.

"Find the girl and the brats. Kill them all," one man ordered.

Do the right thing.

I didn't hesitate. I squeezed the trigger. The recoil jarred my healing shoulder, sending a spike of agony through my body, but I kept firing.

The first man dropped. The second yelled, firing blindly into the darkness. A bullet grazed my thigh, but the adrenaline masked the pain. I fired again, hitting the second man in the chest.

The third man lunged over the table, knocking the gun from my hand. He grabbed my throat, slamming me onto the concrete floor. I gasped for air, thrashing, my nails clawing at his mask. Black spots danced in my vision.

Just as I felt my consciousness fading, a deafening roar shattered the air.

Dominic.

He was covered in blood, a demon spawned from the shadows. He grabbed the man choking me, lifting him entirely off the floor, and broke his neck with a brutal, sickening twist. The man's body crumpled to the floor.

Dominic dropped to his knees, pulling me into his arms, his chest heaving. "Lily. Lily, look at me."

I coughed, gasping for air, clutching his bloody shirt. "Gia... Nico... in the vent."

Dominic let out a ragged sob of relief. He buried his face in my neck. "I have you. I have you. You're safe."