Chapter 5 - The Battle of the Coast
The Vale estate turned into a fiery hellscape within seconds.
Dominic Thorne had brought fifty heavily armed mercenaries, armored trucks, and rocket launchers, launching a surprise night assault on the coastal mansion.
Inside the dark, smoke-filled library, Gabriel pulled Sadie up from the floor, keeping her behind his broad frame as red tracer rounds chewed through the furniture.
"Marcus!" Gabriel roared into his radio headset.
"They breached the southern gate, Boss!" Marcus’s voice crackled through the static over the sound of heavy gunfire. "They used an armored truck to ram the main doors! We're holding the grand foyer, but they have rocket launchers!"
"Get the secondary security team to the west wing!" Gabriel commanded coldly, pulling a heavy tactical pistol from a concealed holster beneath the library desk. He checked the magazine with one smooth motion.
He turned to Sadie, grabbing her shoulders, his eyes fierce. "Listen to me, Sadie. There is a panic room behind the wine cellar in the basement. It’s reinforced steel with an independent air supply. You are going there right now."
"No! I'm not leaving you!" Sadie cried out, grabbing his arm as another rocket hit the roof above them, making the grand chandelier shake violently.
"Sadie, listen to me!" Gabriel yelled over the deafening roar of battle. "If Thorne gets to you, he will use you to destroy me! I cannot fight him if I'm worrying about your life! Go to the cellar!"
Sadie looked into his dark, fiercely protective eyes and realized he was right. She was a liability in a gunfight.
"Promise me you won't die," Sadie begged, her hands clutching his shirt.
Gabriel leaned down and pressed a deep, passionate kiss against her lips—a promise sealed in smoke and fire that sent electricity crashing through Sadie’s blood.
"I won't die," Gabriel vowed against her lips. "Now run!"
Sadie turned and sprinted through the secret service doorway behind the bookshelves, disappearing into the dark stone corridors leading to the basement.
The basement was cold, dark, and filled with the muffled thunders of heavy explosions above.
Sadie ran down the stone steps, her heart hammering in her throat. She reached the heavy oak door of the wine cellar, pushing it open.
Suddenly, a heavy hand grabbed her from behind, a thick, foul-smelling rag slammed over her mouth and nose.
Sadie gasped, inhaling the sweet, sickening fumes of chloroform. Her vision immediately began to spin, her legs turning to jelly as she struggled weakly against the massive mercenary holding her.
Through her fading consciousness, she saw a towering man in a dark tactical vest step out of the shadows of the cellar. He had a scarred face, a shaved head, and cold, yellow eyes.
Dominic Thorne.
"Well, well, well," Thorne sneered, stepping closer and grabbing Sadie by her jaw. "So this is the little maid who saved Gabriel Vale’s life. Julian told me all about you before we put a bullet in his head."
Thorne pulled a heavy combat knife from his belt, resting the cold steel against Sadie’s throat.
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"Gabriel thinks he's fighting my men on the lawn," Thorne laughed wickedly. "He doesn't know I used the old smuggling tunnels to slip directly into his basement. Let's see how tough the great Gabriel Vale is when I send him your head in a bucket."
Sadie’s vision drifted into absolute darkness as the chloroform overwhelmed her brain, Thorne’s cruel laughter fading into silence.
