Chapter 2 - The Bloody Escape
Wood fragments rained down across the pristine white marble floor.
Alessandro fired three shots before the tactical team even made it completely through the doorway.
Two of the masked men collapsed instantly.
The sound of the gunshots in the enclosed space was completely deafening.
I curled my body over Mia, pressing her face into my chest to muffle her terrified cries.
Alessandro moved with a lethal grace that proved every terrifying rumor about him was entirely true.
He grabbed a heavy bronze lamp from his desk and hurled it at the third attacker.
The distraction gave him enough time to fire another precise shot.
The fourth man lunged forward with a combat knife, tackling Alessandro to the ground.
I screamed as the two men wrestled fiercely on the floor amidst the shattered wood and broken glass.
Alessandro managed to twist the man's wrist, driving the knife into the attacker's own shoulder.
He kicked the man away and scrambled to his feet, breathing heavily.
He rushed over to me and grabbed my arm, hauling me up from the corner.
He told me we had exactly two minutes before their backup arrived in the lobby.
We ran out of the ruined office and down the hallway toward his private master bedroom.
He bypassed the grand staircase entirely and opened a hidden door inside his massive walk-in closet.
It revealed a small, dark emergency elevator shaft that only he knew about.
We crowded into the tiny space, the metal groaning as the hidden elevator began to rapidly descend.
I held Mia tightly, trembling uncontrollably as the smell of gunpowder clung to our clothes.
Alessandro reloaded his weapon in the dim red emergency lighting.
He looked at me and apologized for bringing this violence to my child.
The elevator finally jolted to a stop in the subterranean parking garage beneath the building.
Alessandro kicked the door open and led us toward a heavily armored black sport utility vehicle.
He unlocked it remotely, but a figure stepped out from behind the concrete pillar.
It was Raymond, the kind doorman who used to help me carry my laundry baskets.
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Raymond was holding a shotgun aimed directly at my chest.
He racked the slide of the weapon and said he was truly sorry, but the bounty was just too high.
