Chapter 5 - Heavy is the Crown
Three black SUVs tore through the treeline, kicking up massive clouds of dust.
They hadn't just followed them.
They had been waiting for them.
"Get in the house!" Leo roared.
He shoved Beatrice and Lily behind him, drawing his weapon in a blur of motion.
Lily screamed, waking up in a panic.
Beatrice didn't freeze.
Adrenaline flooded her system.
She scooped the six-year-old girl into her arms, ignoring the agonizing pain in her knees.
She sprinted toward the reinforced steel door of the safe house.
Gunfire erupted.
The deafening crack of automatic weapons shattered the quiet mountain air.
Bullets sparked against the side of the Escalade.
Mateo was already returning fire, taking cover behind the open car door.
Leo stood his ground in the open, firing with deadly, terrifying precision.
A man in a ski mask dropped from the lead SUV.
Then another.
Beatrice punched the security code Leo had given her on the door's keypad.
Green light.
The heavy door hissed open.
She threw herself and Lily inside, tumbling onto the hardwood floor.
"Stay down!" Beatrice yelled, covering the child's body with her own.
Outside, the gunfire intensified.
Beatrice's heart hammered against her ribs.
She could hear men shouting.
She heard tires squealing.
And then, a terrifying silence fell over the mountain.
Beatrice held her breath.
Footsteps approached the door.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Beatrice grabbed a heavy bronze lamp from the entryway table, raising it like a club.
She pushed Lily behind her back.
If it was Kensington's men, they would have to kill her first.
The figure stepped into the doorway.
It was Leo.
His white shirt was splattered with blood, but he was breathing evenly.
He saw Beatrice standing there, barefoot, holding a lamp like a warrior queen protecting her princess.
A dark, dangerous smile spread across the mafia boss's face.
He lowered his gun.
"They're dead," Leo said simply.
He walked toward her, taking the lamp gently out of her trembling hands.
"All of them?" Beatrice breathed.
"Every last one."
Leo looked down at her, his eyes blazing with something feral and entirely possessive.
Kensington had made a fatal mistake.
He had forced Leo to realize exactly what he had to lose.
Leo pulled Beatrice by the waist, pressing her soft curves against his hardened body.
May you like
He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent.
"No one," Leo whispered against her skin, "will ever touch you or my daughter again."
