Chapter 8 - The Ultimate Sacrifice
We were supposed to leave at midnight.
But the Romanos had a backup plan.
They didn’t just bribe Marcus the guard. They had bribed someone on the inside cleaning crew.
Just as Silas was leading us to the underground garage, the lights cut out.
Plunged into darkness, the emergency alarms blared.
“Get down!” Silas yelled, drawing his weapon.
Footsteps echoed in the dark garage.
Three assassins had slipped in through the service elevator.
Gunfire lit up the darkness in flashing bursts.
Silas took down one, but was shot in the leg, collapsing behind a concrete pillar.
My mother grabbed my hand and we ran toward the armored car.
An assassin stepped out from behind a van, raising his weapon right at me.
“Got the brat,” he sneered into an earpiece.
He pulled the trigger.
But my mother moved faster.
She threw herself in front of me.
The bullet struck her in the side, and she collapsed to the cold concrete with a gasp.
“MOM!” I screamed.
Before the assassin could fire again, a shadow descended upon him.
Alejandro.
He had heard the alarms and bypassed the stairs, sliding down the elevator shaft.
He tackled the man with primal fury, disarming him and ending the threat with a single, brutal strike.
The garage went silent, save for my sobbing.
Alejandro rushed to our side.
My mother was bleeding heavily, holding her side.
“Maria… no, no, no,” Alejandro panicked, pressing his hands against her wound.
“Take care of her,” my mother whispered, her eyes fluttering. “Take care of Emma.”
“You’re going to take care of her yourself,” Alejandro demanded, his voice cracking. “Silas! Get the medic down here NOW!”
I held my mother’s hand, crying uncontrollably.
Alejandro looked at me, covered in my mother's blood, and something inside him snapped entirely.
May you like
The Romanos hadn't just attacked his empire.
They had broken his heart.
