A little girl stunned me in front of my entire company when she pointed out the tattoo I'd kept hidden for thirteen years—and the instant her mother whispered my supposedly dead brother's name, I realized she was the key to a deadly family secret.

I pulled Clara into a fierce embrace, then knelt down to scoop Emma into my arms. She clung to my neck, burying her face in my shoulder.

"I've got you," I whispered to her. "You're safe now. I promise."

"There are more of them upstairs," Clara said, her voice shaking but her grip on the pistol remaining steady. "I heard them searching the second floor."

"Marcus and the team are sweeping the house," I told her, handing her a spare magazine for her weapon. "But we need to get you both out of here. The west wing is burning, and the smoke will reach the basement soon."

I tapped my earpiece. "Marcus, status."

"Ground floor is clear," Marcus's voice cracked over the radio. "We've engaged five hostiles on the second floor. They are heavily armed, Boss. It's a dug-in firefight."

"I have the girls," I replied. "We are moving to the emergency exit tunnel in the cellar. Fall back and meet us at the extraction point in the woods."

I led Clara and Emma to the back of the wine cellar, pushing aside a heavy oak cask to reveal a hidden steel grate. It led to a narrow tunnel that opened up half a mile away in the dense pine forest.

Just as I opened the grate, heavy footsteps echoed on the basement stairs. Two more Corsican soldiers rounded the corner, spotting us immediately.

"Go! Get in the tunnel!" I shoved Clara and Emma behind me and raised my rifle.

Gunfire erupted, shattering wine bottles and sending glass and red liquid spraying across the room. I laid down heavy suppressive fire, forcing the attackers to dive behind a stone pillar.