Chapter 4 - The Debt Unpaid
Dominic grunted in pain but did not release his grip on his shotgun.
He used the wooden stock of the weapon to smash the assassin brutally in the jaw.
The man stumbled backward, dropping his knife onto the marble floor.
Dominic did not hesitate for a fraction of a second.
He pulled his sidearm and shot the assassin squarely in the chest.
The Russian hit the ground, gasping for air as blood pooled around his tactical vest.
Dominic pushed Clara and Lily safely into the steel-reinforced panic room and locked the heavy door.
He knelt beside the dying assassin, pressing his boot firmly onto the man's bleeding chest.
"Who sent you?" Dominic demanded, his voice cold enough to freeze hell.
The assassin coughed, a sickening smile stretching across his pale lips.
"The Volkovs want their blood back, Moretti," the dying man wheezed.
"You cannot hide a dead woman forever."
The man's eyes rolled back into his head, and his breathing stopped completely.
Dominic stood up, clutching his bleeding shoulder as Enzo rushed into the hallway.
"The perimeter is secure, boss," Enzo reported, looking at the bodies scattered across the floor.
"They sent twelve men, and we killed them all."
Dominic unlocked the panic room and stepped inside to face Clara.
Clara was shaking violently, clutching Lily, who was sobbing into her mother's neck.
"They are gone," Dominic said softly, tossing a towel onto the table to wrap his bleeding shoulder.
"You lied to me, Clara, or should I call you Elena?" Dominic asked, his eyes locking onto hers.
Clara gasped, backing away until she hit the cold steel wall of the bunker.
"I had to lie to protect my daughter," Clara cried, tears streaming down her face.
"My ex-husband is a Volkov enforcer, and he wants to take Lily away from me."
Dominic stepped closer, his imposing figure filling the small room.
"I will protect you both," Dominic promised, meaning every single word.
Clara looked up at him, her eyes filled with a sudden, overwhelming despair.
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"You can't protect us anymore, Dominic," Clara sobbed.
"He just sent me a picture of my dying mother tied to a chair in her hospital room."
