Chapter 1 - The Breach
The heavy iron gates of my estate were designed to withstand a military assault.
I had personally overseen their installation after Sofia died five years ago.
Now, those massive gates were swinging inward, groaning in protest as if they knew the danger approaching.
Three black SUVs rolled slowly onto the circular driveway, their tinted windows hiding the monsters inside.
My lead guard, Dante, stood on the front steps with his hand resting near his weapon.
I turned away from the window and looked at Elena.
She had pushed all four boys under the long mahogany dining table, shielding them with her body.
The children were completely silent, their small faces pale with terror.
I pulled my custom sidearm from its shoulder holster, the cold metal grounding me in reality.
I ordered Elena to take the boys down to the wine cellar immediately.
I told her there was a hidden panic room behind the vintage racks that even Dante didn't know about.
Elena nodded, her hands shaking as she pulled the identical boys to their feet.
Before she could move toward the kitchen, the heavy front doors of the mansion burst open.
Dante was thrown backward onto the marble foyer, blood streaming from his nose.
He did not reach for his weapon because a man had a gun pressed directly to his temple.
The man stepping over my bleeding guard was someone I had never expected to see again.
It was Victor Silva, the ruthless head of the Silva cartel and my oldest enemy.
I raised my weapon, aiming squarely at his chest, calculating the odds of a clean shot.
Victor smiled casually and raised his hands, motioning for his men to lower their weapons.
He told me he hadn't come here to start a war with the Moretti family today.
He claimed he had only come to collect the property that rightfully belonged to him.
He looked past me, his dark eyes locking onto the four little boys huddled near the kitchen door.
Victor pointed a scarred finger at the children.
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He announced that Sofia hadn't hidden those boys because they were mine.
He claimed she hid them because she had stolen them from his own private laboratory.
