Chapter 3 - SINS OF THE FATHER
Gunfire shattered the reinforced glass of the East Wing. The sound was deafening, a chaotic symphony of assault rifles tearing through my multimillion-dollar home. I grabbed Isabel by the wrist and pushed her toward the panic room entrance hidden behind the library bookshelves.
"Take the kids! Go!" I yelled over the din of shattering porcelain and splintering wood.
Sofia didn't hesitate. Despite her young age, the streets had taught her survival. She sprinted ahead of Isabel, carrying the baby like a precious artifact. I punched the access code, shoved them inside the steel-reinforced bunker, and locked the door from the outside. I wasn't going to hide. I was the apex predator of this city, and someone had dared to hunt in my territory.
My men were already engaging the intruders in the courtyard. I moved silently through the shadows of the mansion, picking off the tactical-gear-clad mercenaries one by one. Two men rounded the corner of the grand staircase. I took them down with precise, suppressed headshots before they could even raise their weapons. They were professionals, heavily armed, bearing no insignia. Arturo’s private death squad.
By the time the sun began to peek through the heavy storm clouds, my estate was a war zone, but the remaining attackers had fled or bled out on my imported rugs. I had captured one alive. I dragged him by his tactical vest into the basement, binding him to a steel chair.
"Who sent you?" I demanded, pressing the hot barrel of my gun against his cheek.
The mercenary spat blood on my shoes. "You're already dead, Gabriel. Don Arturo controls the capos now. He has the police, the judges, the docks. You're a king without a kingdom."
I didn't blink. I pulled the trigger on his kneecap. His scream was muffled by the thick concrete walls. "A king only needs his blood," I whispered. "Tell my uncle I’m coming for him." I knocked the man unconscious and left him for my cleaners.
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I went back to the panic room and opened the heavy vault door. Sofia was singing a soft lullaby to my son. Isabel was weeping silently in the corner. Looking at them, a profound realization washed over me. I had spent my life building an empire of fear, accumulating wealth and power, but none of it mattered compared to the two fragile lives sitting in this steel box.
"We are leaving the city," I announced, wiping the soot from my face. "We are going to the safe house in the mountains. From there, I go to war."
