Chapter 5 - The Desperate Breath
The thick green smoke rapidly filled the dark wine cellar, completely stealing the clean oxygen from their lungs.
Damiano instantly ripped off his expensive tailored suit jacket and forcefully wrapped it tightly around Lucia’s small face.
He violently grabbed a heavy wooden wine barrel and hurled it aggressively against the reinforced steel door.
The massive door did not even dent, completely trapping them inside the deadly, suffocating underground chamber.
Serena coughed violently, her legs giving out as the toxic chemical gas began to quickly shut down her nervous system.
Damiano refused to let his newly discovered family die in the absolute dark like trapped animals.
He desperately scanned the stone ceiling, perfectly remembering the original architectural blueprints of his ancient family estate.
There was a completely hidden, narrow drainage shaft located directly behind the massive wine racks on the back wall.
He frantically pushed the heavy wooden shelves aside, completely ignoring the sharp pain of hundreds of breaking glass bottles.
He found the rusted iron grate and aggressively kicked it with every single ounce of his massive strength.
The old metal finally gave way, entirely opening a tiny, incredibly dark tunnel leading straight to the fresh outside air.
He quickly shoved Serena and Lucia forcefully through the small opening, desperately ordering them to crawl as fast as they could.
Damiano crawled fiercely right behind them, coughing up dark blood as the poison aggressively attacked his lungs.
They finally tumbled completely out into the cold, rainy night, gasping deeply for the beautiful, fresh oxygen.
Serena held Lucia tightly, completely terrified but incredibly grateful that Damiano had successfully saved their lives.
Damiano struggled to his feet, pulling a hidden, waterproof backup weapon from an ankle holster securely strapped to his leg.
He knew absolutely that Marco would already have heavily armed mercenaries actively sweeping the grounds to find their bodies.
He quietly guided them through the dense, thorny rose bushes, desperately heading toward a hidden garage holding an armored escape vehicle.
They successfully reached the heavy steel doors of the secret garage without alerting any of the roaming guards.
Damiano quickly punched his secure access code into the digital keypad, completely expecting the heavy doors to slide open smoothly.
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Instead, the keypad flashed a bright, angry red light, and a massive alarm siren immediately began screaming into the night.
Marco stepped out from behind a large marble statue, completely surrounded by dozens of heavily armed, laser-sighted rifles pointing directly at Damiano's family.
