Chapter 6 - THE FIRE IN THE LIBRARY
The image of Leo tied to the chair burned into my mind. The terrified look in his eyes, the tear streaks on his small face.
“Marcus is in the house,” I gasped, showing Dominic the phone.
Dominic’s eyes locked onto the screen. I expected an explosion of rage, but instead, a terrifying, absolute calm washed over him. It was the look of a man who had accepted that someone was going to die tonight.
“He bypassed my guards,” Dominic said softly. “Victoria must have given him the security codes before she left.”
“He wants the ledger and the diary,” I said, clutching the leather-bound book to my chest. “Dominic, if we give them to him, he’ll kill us anyway. He can’t leave witnesses.”
“He’s not getting either,” Dominic replied, turning sharply and sprinting toward the exit. “Call the estate security. Tell them to cut the power to the main house. Complete blackout.”
As we raced back to the SUV, my hands shook violently as I dialed the head of security. I relayed Dominic’s orders.
“Done, Ms. Bennett,” the security chief confirmed. “But sir, we have a problem. Marcus has Eleanor hostage in the foyer, too. He’s threatening to shoot the widow if we breach the doors.”
“Tell your men to hold the perimeter,” Dominic shouted into the phone. “Do not engage. I am ending this.”
We drove back to the estate in agonizing silence. The rain was coming down in sheets, blurring the windshield. My mind spun. Leo was Dominic’s son. For seven years, Victoria had kept her own child disguised as a nephew to siphon money from a trust fund, using him as a pawn to maintain power over the Romano family.
And my father died because he found out.
We arrived at the estate gates. The massive stone mansion was completely dark, silhouetted against the stormy sky. Dominic’s guards were positioned behind vehicles, weapons trained on the front doors.
Dominic popped the trunk of the SUV. He handed me a heavy steel flashlight.
“Rachel, listen to me carefully,” he said, his voice urgent but steady. “There is a service tunnel that runs from the greenhouse into the basement wine cellar. You know this house better than anyone. You take the tunnel. Get to the library, get Leo out, and take him to the panic room.”
“What about you?” I asked.
“I’m going through the front door,” Dominic said. He pulled a second weapon from the trunk. “I’m going to give Marcus exactly what he asked for. Me.”
“Dominic, no! He has a gun to Eleanor’s head!”
“He won’t shoot her,” Dominic said firmly. “He wants the documents. He needs leverage. Just focus on Leo.”
Without waiting for my reply, Dominic turned and walked directly toward the front steps of the dark mansion.
I didn't waste a second. I ran through the pouring rain toward the glass greenhouse on the east lawn. I found the heavy iron grate hidden beneath the potting tables, pulled it open, and descended into the dark, damp tunnel.
The air smelled of earth and old stone. I moved as fast as I could in the pitch black, using my hand against the wall to guide me. My heart hammered against my ribs.
I reached the wooden door leading to the wine cellar. I slowly turned the handle. It was unlocked.
I crept into the basement and carefully climbed the servant’s stairs. The house was dead quiet.
When I reached the ground floor hallway, I heard voices echoing from the grand foyer.
“Where is he?!” Marcus’s voice roared. “He should be here by now!”
“He’s coming, you coward,” Eleanor’s voice replied, remarkably steady. “And when he gets here, he’s going to make you wish you never stepped foot in this house.”
“Shut up, old woman!” Marcus snapped.
I crept toward the library doors. They were slightly ajar.
Inside, the room was lit only by the faint glow of a streetlamp shining through the window.
Leo was tied to a heavy oak chair in the center of the room. He was shivering, his eyes squeezed shut in terror.
“Leo,” I hissed softly, slipping into the room.
His eyes flew open. “Rachel!” he whimpered.
“Shhh,” I warned, rushing to his side. I pulled a small pocket knife from my apron—one I used for opening kitchen boxes—and began sawing frantically at the thick zip-ties binding his wrists.
“He has a gun, Rachel,” Leo whispered, tears streaming down his face. “He said he was going to burn my books.”
“He’s not going to burn anything,” I promised, my hands shaking as the first plastic tie snapped.
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the mansion’s front entrance crashed open.
“Marcus!” Dominic’s voice boomed through the foyer, echoing like thunder.
I heard Marcus laugh. “Ah, the boss arrives. Drop the gun, Dominic. Drop it, or the widow’s brains paint the marble.”
“Let her go,” Dominic demanded. “I have what you want.”
I sawed through the last zip-tie on Leo’s legs. “Come on,” I whispered, pulling the boy into my arms.
We moved silently toward the secret door leading to the panic room. I pressed the hidden latch.
It didn't open.
I pressed it again, pushing harder. Nothing.
My blood ran cold. The power was cut. The electronic lock on the panic room wouldn't release without electricity.
We were trapped in the library.
“I brought the ledger and the diary,” I heard Dominic say in the hallway. “Your father’s blackmail. Your sister’s lies. All of it.”
“Toss them over here,” Marcus ordered.
“Let Eleanor walk out the door first.”
“I don't think so,” Marcus sneered. “In fact, I think I’ll just kill her now, and then I’ll kill you.”
I heard the distinct, terrifying sound of a gun hammer clicking back.
I couldn't stay hidden. I couldn't let Eleanor die.
I looked down at Leo. “Hide under the desk. Do not come out.”
I stood up, grabbed a heavy brass bookend from the nearest shelf, and stepped out of the library into the foyer.
In the dim moonlight, I saw Marcus standing behind Eleanor, his arm wrapped around her neck, a gun pressed to her temple. Dominic stood ten feet away, his own weapon aimed at Marcus’s chest.
Marcus saw me out of the corner of his eye. He flinched in surprise.
That split second was all Dominic needed.
Dominic didn't shoot Marcus. He lunged forward, grabbed the barrel of Marcus’s gun, and wrenched it upward.
A shot fired into the ceiling, showering us in plaster.
I ran forward, grabbed Eleanor by the waist, and pulled her hard to the ground, away from the struggle.
Dominic drove his knee into Marcus’s stomach, sending the much larger man crashing onto the marble floor. The gun slid across the tiles.
Dominic grabbed Marcus by the collar, pulling his face close.
“This is for Thomas Walsh,” Dominic snarled, and drove his fist into Marcus’s jaw with a sickening crack. Marcus went limp.
Silence fell over the foyer, save for the sound of our heavy breathing.
“Dominic!” Leo’s voice cried out.
The little boy ran out of the library, tears streaming down his face. He didn't run to me. He ran straight to Dominic.
Dominic caught him, pulling the boy tight against his chest, burying his face in Leo’s hair.
“I’ve got you,” Dominic whispered fiercely. “I’ve got you, son.”
The moment was beautiful, raw, and desperate.
But it was shattered a second later by the sound of high heels clicking against the marble stairs.
We all looked up.
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Standing on the second-floor landing, holding the gun that had slid across the floor, was Victoria.
“How touching,” she sneered, pointing the weapon directly at Dominic and Leo. “But nobody is walking out of here alive.”
