Chapter 3 - The Housekeeper's Treason
The older woman’s weathered hands shook slightly, but she kept the heavy weapon aimed directly at Gabriel’s head.
She apologized in a quiet, broken whisper, stating that the Russian syndicate had viciously kidnapped her own innocent grandchildren.
She explained that David had promised to return them alive only if she delivered the mafia boss directly to him.
Gabriel quickly calculated his incredibly slim odds of completely disarming her before she could nervously pull the trigger.
Maren screamed in sheer terror from inside the panic room and desperately begged the older woman to stop this madness.
Mrs. Whitfield firmly closed her tear-filled eyes for just a second to hold back her overwhelming guilt.
That momentary, emotional lapse in absolute focus was all the precious time Gabriel needed to react.
He aggressively grabbed the hot barrel of her gun and twisted it violently toward the plaster ceiling.
The heavy weapon discharged loudly, sending a stray bullet tearing through the expensive crystal chandelier above them.
Gabriel delivered a swift, highly calculated martial arts strike to her neck that rendered her instantly and painlessly unconscious.
He quickly dragged her limp, fragile body into the hallway and tightly sealed the heavy panic room door shut.
The sterile, impenetrable steel box instantly plunged them into a terrifying, suffocating, and absolute silence.
Nora whimpered quietly in the dark corner and buried her tear-stained face deep into her familiar yellow blanket.
Gabriel knelt on the cold floor and softly promised the terrified little girl that she was completely and totally safe.
Maren collapsed heavily against the steel wall, completely paralyzed by a sudden wave of overwhelming, crushing guilt.
She cried softly and told Gabriel that she was bringing nothing but death into his home and destroying his life.
Gabriel gently touched her warm cheek and firmly declared that she was actually the only real life he had left.
The unspoken romantic tension between them finally broke completely through the absolute terror of the violent night.
He leaned in closely and kissed her with a desperate, fierce, and undeniable possessiveness.
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Suddenly, the dim emergency lights inside the small panic room flickered rapidly and died completely.
A thick, sweet-smelling, neon-green gas began hissing loudly and violently from the overhead ventilation shafts.
