Chapter 18 - The Ambush
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Norah sat in the quiet, temperature-controlled basement of the historical conservation lab. Despite being the CEO of a billion-dollar company now, she had insisted on coming in to finish restoring a fragile 18th-century manuscript. It was the only thing that grounded her amidst the chaos of the last three days.
Adrien had argued against it, but he had compromised by stationing four of his best men in the lobby and two in the alleyway behind the building.
Norah was carefully applying a restorative solvent with a Q-tip when the building violently shuddered.
A deafening explosion rocked the floorboards. The fire alarms instantly began blaring, flashing blinding white strobe lights through the dusty archives.
Before Norah could even stand up, the heavy steel door to her lab was kicked open.
Marco, Adrien’s head of security, rushed in. There was a bloody cut across his forehead, and he was holding a suppressed submachine gun.
“Miss Bennett, we need to move, now!” Marco barked, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the reinforced panic room at the back of the lab.
“What’s happening?” Norah gasped, stumbling over her heels.
“Romanov hit squad,” Marco said grimly, locking the heavy steel door of the panic room behind them. “They hit the front with a breach charge. There are at least twenty of them. Your father sold you out to his loan sharks.”
Norah’s stomach dropped. Her own father had sent assassins after her.
Outside the thick steel door, the sound of heavy automatic gunfire erupted. The screams of dying men echoed through the air vents. Norah covered her ears, tears streaming down her face, terrified that Marco and Adrien's men were going to die because of her family’s debts.
Suddenly, the gunfire stopped.
A heavy, oppressive silence fell over the building.
Marco didn't lower his weapon. He stood aiming directly at the door.
A heavy knock sounded on the steel. Then, a voice cut through the silence.
“Marco. Open the door.”
Marco immediately lowered his weapon and punched in the keypad code. The heavy steel door swung open.
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Adrien stood there. His bespoke suit was ruined, splattered with fresh blood that wasn't his. He held a smoking pistol in his right hand. The look in his eyes was absolute, demonic murder.
He dropped the gun, stepped into the room, and pulled Norah into his chest, burying his face in her hair.
