Chapter 6 - SHIFTING ALLIANCES
The narrow apartment hallway turned into a battleground within seconds.
Leonardo fired two rapid shots with blinding precision. Marcus’s remaining bodyguard dropped instantly. Marcus, realizing he was outmatched and trapped, threw a flash-bang canister down the linoleum corridor and sprinted toward the window at the end of the hallway.
The blinding light and deafening crack made my ears ring violently. I fell back against the wall, disoriented.
Through the smoke, a strong hand gripped my wrist—the exact same grip from the marble foyer the night before, but this time, it was firm and protective.
"I've got you," Leonardo’s deep voice cut through the ringing in my ears. He pulled me up into his arms, sheltering my head as he pulled me into the stairwell.
"He... Marcus... he knows about Sophie!" I panicked, gasping for air as we descended the stairs.
"She's already safe," Leonardo reassured me without missing a beat. "I have six of my best men stationed inside her hospital room right now. No one touches your sister."
We burst out into the back alley where two black armored SUVs were waiting, engines idling. Frank held the door open, his submachine gun raised toward the rooflines.
Leonardo bundled me into the back seat before sliding in beside me. The SUVs tore away from the curb, tires screeching against the wet pavement.
I leaned back against the plush leather seat, trying to catch my breath. My heart felt like it was going to burst through my ribs. I looked over at Leonardo. His face was set in stone, but I noticed a dark red spot slowly soaking through his crisp white dress shirt near his bandages. His wound had reopened during the sprint.
"You're bleeding again," I said, reaching out instinctively toward his chest.
Leonardo caught my hand in mid-air. For a second, neither of us moved. His skin was warm, his thumb lightly brushing across the back of my knuckles.
"I've suffered worse," he said softly, his dark eyes searching my face. "Are you hurt?"
"No," I whispered. "Just... terrified."
"You shouldn't have to be," he said, releasing my hand gently, though his gaze never left mine. "This war was supposed to stay in the shadows. Bringing you into it was never my intention, but Marcus forced my hand."
"What happens now?"
"Tomorrow night is the High Council assembly," Leonardo explained, leaning back as the SUV sped through the city. "Every major family head in the Northeast will be there. Marcus planned to declare me dead and claim my father's seat by default. He thinks he neutralized me."
"And if you walk into that room?"
"If I walk in alone, he will have his loyalists turn it into a bloodbath," Leonardo said coldly. "I need proof of his treason before I step foot in that room. Proof that the council cannot ignore."
I paused, remembering something from my shifts at the Blackwood Estate.
"The master control room," I said suddenly.
Leonardo looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "What about it?"
"When I was cleaning the study on the third floor last week, I saw Mrs. Gable filing paperwork near the safe behind the library bookcase. The estate's main security server doesn't just log gate access... it records hardwired backup audio from the main study landlines. If Marcus disabled the grid from inside, the server room in the sub-basement would have logged the hard drive override code."
Leonardo stared at me, a slow, genuine smile spreading across his sculpted features. "The sub-basement server room. It’s on a completely isolated circuit."
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"Marcus's men searched the house for a body," I continued, excitement overriding my fear. "They didn't search the deep servers. The data is still there."
Leonardo looked at Frank in the front seat. "Reroute the team. We're going back to Blackwood."
