Chapter 5 - The Glass Castle
Panic erupted instantly as the automated warning echoed through the sealed, inescapable grand hall.
Marchetti’s smug expression dissolved into pure terror as a thick, white mist began hissing from the ceiling vents above.
The armed mercenaries abandoned their strategic positions, coughing violently as they desperately clawed at the impenetrable steel shutters.
Damiano did not wait to watch his enemies suffocate, having already secured a specialized gas mask from a hidden wall compartment.
He slipped the mask over his face and moved swiftly through the blinding smoke, neutralizing any hostile targets blocking his path.
His only priority was reaching the subterranean safe room where Rafael was currently guarding his newly adopted family.
The ventilation system in the underground vault operated on an independent loop, making it the only truly safe place left.
He descended the spiraling stone staircase into the wine cellar, his flashlight cutting through the gloom of the ancient catacombs.
The heavy iron door of the vault came into view, but something was terribly, fundamentally wrong with the scene.
Rafael was slumped against the cold stone wall, bleeding heavily from a deep, jagged wound in his left side.
"Rafael!" Damiano shouted, ripping off his gas mask as he rushed to his fallen friend and pressed a hand against the wound.
The bodyguard coughed up blood, his pale hands gripping Damiano’s ruined tuxedo jacket with desperate strength.
"It was an ambush, Boss," Rafael wheezed, his eyes rolling back slightly as he fought to remain conscious.
"One of our own security guards was bought off by Castri, and he was waiting down here for us."
Damiano’s heart hammered furiously against his ribs as he stared at the heavy vault door, which was currently standing wide open.
"Where are they?" he demanded, his voice thick with a murderous rage he hadn't felt in over a decade.
"The traitor locked them inside the secondary glass chamber," Rafael gasped, pointing a trembling finger toward the back of the vault.
Damiano left his friend and sprinted into the massive safe room, stopping dead in his tracks at the horrifying sight.
Elena and little Mia were trapped inside the reinforced, bulletproof glass holding cell designed to store his most valuable artifacts.
On the other side of the glass stood the rogue security guard, holding a menacing remote detonator tightly in his sweaty hand.
The man had wired heavy explosive charges directly to the reinforced glass, turning the impenetrable cell into a massive bomb.
"Drop your weapons, Mr. Verrone, or I blow them to pieces right now," the traitor demanded, his voice shaking with adrenaline.
Mia pressed her tiny hands against the thick glass, tears streaming down her cheeks as she mouthed the word "Daddy."
Damiano slowly raised his hands in surrender, carefully placing his stolen rifle onto the cold concrete floor.
"You want the encrypted drive, take it and leave," Damiano said calmly, desperately trying to de-escalate the volatile situation.
The guard laughed nervously, taking a dangerous step closer to the rigged glass chamber with his thumb hovering over the button.
May you like
"I don't care about any drive," the man sneered, his eyes filled with a terrifying, unhinged madness.
"Don Castri didn't pay me to retrieve information; he paid me to ensure the federal agent's bloodline was completely erased tonight."
