Chapter 15 - The Balcony Ambush
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“Victor, stop!” Emma screamed, launching herself onto the balcony.
Victor spun around, a cigar halfway to his lips, his silver eyes flashing with surprise at the sight of his head housekeeper charging at him in a panic.
“Emma, what are you—”
He didn't finish the sentence.
From the shadows of the ivy-covered trellis above them, three men in black tactical gear dropped silently onto the balcony. The moonlight caught the long, menacing barrels of suppressed automatic weapons.
They were early.
Emma didn't think. Instinct took over. She threw her entire body weight into Victor, tackling the massive mafia boss to the stone floor just as the assassins opened fire.
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
Bullets shattered the stone balustrade where Victor had been standing a fraction of a second before. Shards of marble rained down on them.
Victor hit the ground hard, but his reflexes were lethal. As he fell, he drew a heavy pistol from a shoulder holster hidden beneath his tuxedo jacket. From his back, he fired three deafening, unsuppressed shots.
The loud BOOM of his weapon shattered the quiet night, echoing into the ballroom inside.
One of the assassins took a bullet to the chest and slumped backward over the railing, tumbling into the darkness below.
The other two dove for cover behind heavy stone planters, unleashing a barrage of suppressed fire at the ground where Victor and Emma lay pinned.
“Are you hit?!” Victor roared over the gunfire, grabbing Emma by the collar of her uniform and dragging her behind a thick marble column.
“I’m fine!” Emma gasped, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. “The radios are jammed! Julian cut Marco off!”
Victor’s face twisted into a mask of pure, demonic rage. His cousin had betrayed him, and they were trapped.
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Inside the ballroom, mass panic erupted. The guests had heard Victor’s unsuppressed gunshots. Screams echoed through the glass doors as hundreds of people scrambled for the exits, creating a stampede of chaos that prevented Marco’s men from reaching the balcony.
“We have to move!” Victor yelled, checking his magazine. “They’re going to flank us!”
