Chapter 8 - BROKEN GLASS
Our secret romance bloomed in the shadows, but the mafia does not allow for peace.
The betrayal came from within. Victor’s underboss, a man named Carlo who had felt sidelined by Victor's "distractions," sold our security codes to the Moretti family.
It was a Tuesday night. The children were in the media room watching a movie. Victor and I were in his office, looking over logistics for a charity gala. Suddenly, the alarm system blared—not the perimeter alarm, but the internal breach siren.
"They're inside the house," Victor roared, grabbing an assault rifle from a hidden wall compartment and shoving a handgun into my hands. "Get the kids to the panic room. Do not come out, no matter what you hear. Go!"
I ran. The hallways were already echoing with gunfire and the shouts of men. I burst into the media room, grabbed Lucia and Leo by the hands, and shouted for Marco, Nico, and Alessandro to follow. We sprinted toward the basement library. A Moretti soldier stepped out from a corridor, raising his weapon.
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I didn't hesitate. I raised the handgun, closed my eyes, and pulled the trigger. The recoil sent me stumbling back, but the man dropped. Marco grabbed the gun from my trembling hands. "Keep moving!" the ten-year-old yelled, sounding exactly like his father.
We reached the library, pulled the hidden lever, and piled into the steel-reinforced panic room just as the heavy door locked shut.
