Chapter 43 - Blood on the Marble
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The suppressed shots from my 9mm whispered through the dark kitchen, dropping the first two mercenaries before they even realized they were being flanked.
Elias moved like a phantom behind me, stepping into the open and taking down the third man with a brutal, precise double-tap to the chest. The mercenary crashed into the marble island, sending expensive crystal glassware shattering across the floor.
"Kitchen is clear," Elias whispered, sweeping his weapon toward the grand dining room. "But they heard the glass break. We have company coming."
"Let them come," I replied coldly, stepping over the fallen bodies.
The sound of heavy tactical boots echoed down the mahogany hallway. They were moving in a disciplined formation, sweeping room by room. Victoria Sterling hadn't sent mere thugs; she had sent elite killers.
I crouched behind the thick oak dining table just as a flashbang grenade rolled across the floor, spinning violently.
"Eyes!" Elias barked.
I clamped my eyes shut and covered my ears. The grenade detonated with a blinding, deafening crack. Before the smoke could even begin to clear, automatic gunfire tore through the dining room, shredding the antique chairs and splintering the walls.
Cooper barked savagely from the hallway, launching himself from the shadows. He clamped his massive jaws onto the arm of a mercenary stepping through the threshold, dragging the screaming man to the ground.
Using the distraction, I popped up from cover. I acquired my targets through the lingering smoke and fired three rapid shots. Two more men collapsed into the grand foyer.
"Push forward!" I yelled to Elias. "Don't let them regroup!"
We fought our way into the main living room, turning my beautiful, curated home into a brutal war zone. Elias was a machine of calculated violence, covering my blind spots while I systematically dismantled Victoria's strike team.
Within ten minutes, the gunfire ceased. The estate fell into a heavy, suffocating silence, broken only by the sound of the rain outside and the groans of a dying mercenary near the front door.
I walked over to the man, my boots crunching on broken glass. I kicked his assault rifle away and aimed my pistol at his head.
"Who gave the order?" I demanded, my voice void of any mercy.
The man coughed up blood, offering a weak, defiant smirk. "The High Chair sends her regards, little girl."
May you like
I pulled the trigger, ending his smirk permanently.
"Get Jax back online," I told Elias, wiping a smear of blood from my cheek. "We are going to Europe."
