Chương 4 - The Breach
Damian took the marble stairs three at a time, his heart hammering against his ribs.
He ignored the shouts of his security detail echoing down the hallway, sprinting entirely on pure adrenaline.
The Volkovs had played him perfectly.
They had leaked Ivan's connection to Tessa, knowing Paul's initial background check would miss it, but a deeper dive would flag the tattoo.
They knew Damian's paranoia would force him to pull Tessa into the basement for interrogation, leaving Beatrice completely exposed.
Damian burst through the double doors of the East Wing, raising his Glock.
Two of his guards lay dead on the plush carpet, their throats slashed with terrifying precision.
The heavy oak door to Room 104 was wide open.
Damian moved silently, slicing the pie around the doorframe, his weapon drawn tight to his chest.
The room was in shambles, the curtains violently torn down, and the reinforced glass window shattered inward.
Beatrice was not in her bed.
A massive man dressed entirely in black tactical gear stood in the center of the room, holding Beatrice roughly by the arm.
He held a suppressed pistol directly to the old woman's temple.
"Drop the gun, Costa, or I paint the wall with her brains," the assassin growled in a thick Russian accent.
Damian froze.
He was a master marksman, but the angle was impossible. If he missed by a fraction of an inch, his mother would die.
He slowly lowered the Glock, preparing to set it on the floor.
Suddenly, a blur of gray motion darted from the adjoining bathroom.
It was Tessa.
She hadn't stayed in the basement. She had followed Damian upstairs, ignoring his orders to stay put.
She held the heavy brass clock that Beatrice had thrown earlier.
With a desperate, guttural scream, Tessa swung the clock with all her might, smashing it directly into the back of the assassin's knee.
The massive man roared in pain, his leg buckling under the impact.
His aim faltered for a microsecond.
It was all the time Damian needed.
He raised his weapon and fired two rapid shots.
The assassin dropped to the floor, dead before he even realized he had been hit.
Beatrice collapsed, screaming in terror, but Tessa scrambled forward, shielding the old woman with her own body.
Damian rushed forward, kicking the assassin's weapon away.
He looked down at Tessa, who was shaking violently, clutching Beatrice tightly.
"I told you to stay in the basement," Damian breathed, his voice a mixture of anger and absolute awe.
"She was crying," Tessa whispered, staring at the dead body on the floor. "I couldn't just leave her."
Paul and the rest of the security team finally stormed into the room, their weapons raised.
"Clear the house!" Paul ordered, securing the perimeter.
Damian knelt beside Tessa, gently pulling her up from the floor.
Her gray uniform was now stained with the assassin's blood as well as her own.
"You saved my mother's life," Damian said quietly, looking directly into her eyes.
Tessa swallowed hard, looking at the gun still in his hand.
"Are you going to kill me now?" she asked, terrified.
Before Damian could answer, his secure phone rang again.
He answered it, putting it on speaker.
A chilling, heavily accented voice echoed through the destroyed bedroom.
"You won the skirmish, Damian, but the war has just begun," Ivan Sokolov purred through the phone.
"And tell my little Tessa I said hello. I see she still likes playing the hero."
Damian's eyes locked onto Tessa.
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Ivan hadn't just come for Beatrice.
He had come to finish what he started with Tessa years ago.
