Chapter 17 - Blood on the Threshold
Evelyn didn't hesitate. Grabbing a heavy steel medical supply case off the stainless table beside her, she swung it with all her strength into the kneecap of the mercenary reaching for Lily.
The man grunted, his knee buckling. Evelyn lunged forward, driving her thumb into the gap of his eye visor, scratching with claw-like desperation.
"Get off me, you bitch!" the operative snarled, raising the butt of his rifle to crush her skull.
*BANG! BANG!*
Two thunderous gunshots echoed inside the enclosed concrete room. The mercenary's head snapped back, his lifeless body collapsing heavily onto the floor.
Standing in the blasted-open service entrance was Dominic. His dark hair was disheveled, blood dripping down his temple from a grazing wound, and his eyes burned with apocalyptic fury. Smoke curled from the barrel of his smoking desert eagle.
The second mercenary spun to raise his weapon, but Dominic closed the distance in a single predatory leap. He grabbed the operative’s rifle, twisted the man's arm until bone snapped through flesh with a sickening crunch, and slammed his head into the reinforced concrete pillar with bone-shattering force.
The bunker fell dead silent, save for the ragged breathing of the survivors.
Dominic stood over the two bodies, his chest heaving. Slowly, he lowered his gun and looked at Evelyn. She was trembling from head to toe, her knuckles bleeding, shielding Lily behind her own body.
"Dominic..." she gasped, tears finally streaming down her face.
Dominic walked toward her, stepping over the corpses without glancing down. He knelt before her, discarding his tactical gloves, and pulled both Evelyn and Lily into his massive, trembling embrace.
"You're safe," Dominic breathed into Evelyn’s hair, his voice choked with raw emotion he had never shown to a single soul in his life. "You're safe. I have you."
Lily reached out her small hands and touched Dominic’s bloodied jaw. "Don Dominic... you saved Mommy."
Dominic looked at the little girl, his fierce expression melting into profound gentleness. "I promised you I would, little bird."
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Arthur groaned from the floor, clutching his bleeding shoulder. "Dominic... the estate is breached on all four sides. They've got gunships circling overhead. We won't hold the mansion for another thirty minutes."
Dominic helped Arthur to his feet, assessing the situation with cold, tactical clarity. "We don't need to hold the mansion. The estate served its purpose. It's time to unleash the phantom."