CHAPTER 3 - THE BREACH
1224 Words
The lights went out.
Maria screamed.
“Relax!”
Roman's voice came from somewhere in the darkness.
“Easy for you to say!” Maria snapped. “I'm the one being kidnapped!”
“Technically, we're all in danger now.”
“That's supposed to make me feel better?”
“No.”
A loud crash came from somewhere downstairs.
Maria jumped.
Adrian's voice cut through the darkness.
“Stay here.”
She heard a gun being c****d.
Maria's heart nearly stopped.
“Wait. You have guns?”
Roman answered from the darkness.
“Several.”
“That's not reassuring!”
“Wasn't meant to be.”
A small emergency light suddenly came on.
The room was covered in a faint red glow.
Adrian stood near the door.
Roman was already holding a gun.
Lucien had his phone in one hand, his eyes fixed on the screen.
Maria stared at them.
Three men who had spent the last hour arguing with her now looked completely different.
Focused.
Alert.
Dangerous.
“What is happening?” she asked.
Lucien looked at her.
“Someone has entered the estate.”
“How many?”
“Seven.”
Roman frowned.
“Seven?”
“Possibly more.”
Maria's mouth fell open.
“Seven people broke into this place and you are all standing here talking like they're delivery drivers?”
Roman glanced at her.
“You're surprisingly loud for someone in danger.”
“You kidnapped me. I think I've earned the right to complain.”
A faint smile crossed Roman's face.
Adrian didn't look amused.
“Maria, listen carefully.”
She looked at him.
“Stay behind us.”
“I can protect myself.”
“You have no idea what's coming.”
“And you do?”
“Yes.”
A gunshot exploded somewhere outside.
Maria flinched.
Roman's smile disappeared.
Adrian opened the door slightly and looked into the hallway.
“Lucien.”
“Already moving.”
Lucien touched his phone.
The mansion's security system came alive.
Screens appeared on the wall.
Maria stared.
The cameras showed men moving through the grounds.
Black clothing.
Weapons.
They were coming closer.
One of them looked directly at a camera.
Then the screen went black.
Lucien's expression changed.
“They've cut the west cameras.”
Roman looked at Adrian.
“That's not amateur work.”
“No.”
Maria swallowed.
“Who are they?”
Nobody answered.
She stepped forward.
“Who are they?”
Adrian finally looked at her.
“People who want you dead.”
The words hit harder than the gunshots.
Maria shook her head.
“Why?”
“Because you know something you don't know you know.”
She stared at him.
“That doesn't even make sense.”
“I know.”
Another crash echoed through the mansion.
Closer this time.
Roman moved toward the hallway.
Adrian grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
Roman looked at him.
“Someone needs to check the east wing.”
“I'll go.”
“No.”
Roman frowned.
“Why?”
Adrian looked toward Lucien.
“Because I need you here.”
Roman glanced at Maria.
Then he understood.
“You think they're coming for her.”
“They already are.”
Maria's chest tightened.
She hated the way they were talking about her like she was some valuable object.
“I can hear you, you know.”
Roman looked at her.
“Sorry.”
“Don't be sorry. Explain.”
Before he could answer, the door at the end of the hallway opened.
Everyone froze.
A man stepped inside.
He was holding a gun.
Maria gasped.
Adrian moved instantly.
He pulled her behind him.
Two gunshots rang out.
The man dropped.
Maria covered her mouth.
Her entire body trembled.
Roman rushed forward and checked the hallway.
“Clear.”
Lucien looked at the dead man's clothes.
Then he crouched.
He pulled something from the man's pocket.
A small silver symbol.
Maria couldn't see it clearly.
Adrian could.
His face darkened.
“Crowe.”
Roman's expression changed.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
Maria looked between them.
“Who's Crowe?”
No answer.
“Who's Crowe?”
Adrian stood.
“You don't need to know.”
Maria stared at him.
“People are breaking into your house with guns because of me, and you think I don't need to know?”
“We'll explain later.”
“No. You will explain now.”
Roman looked at Adrian.
“She has a point.”
Adrian ignored him.
A loud alarm suddenly began screaming through the mansion.
Lucien looked at his phone.
“East gate breached.”
Roman cursed.
“How many?”
“Four more.”
Adrian looked at Maria.
“Stay here.”
Maria shook her head.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Maria.”
“I am not staying alone in a room while armed men are running around outside.”
“Then stay behind me.”
She blinked.
That was not the answer she expected.
Roman looked at Adrian with amusement.
“Look at you. Almost sounding human.”
“Roman.”
“I'm quiet.”
“You said that already.”
“And you didn't believe me.”
Despite everything happening around her, Maria almost laughed.
Almost.
Then the mansion shook.
Something had exploded outside.
Maria screamed and grabbed Roman's arm.
Roman looked down at her hand.
She immediately released him.
“Sorry.”
“You can hold on.”
“I said sorry.”
“I didn't say I minded.”
Adrian shot Roman a look.
Roman smiled.
“Now is probably a bad time for flirting.”
“Probably,” Maria muttered.
Another explosion sounded.
The three brothers immediately became serious again.
Lucien suddenly looked at his screen.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“I found the breach point.”
“Where?”
Lucien looked toward Maria.
His face was pale.
“Her room.”
Maria's stomach dropped.
“What?”
Lucien turned the screen toward them.
A security camera showed a man standing inside Maria's bedroom.
He wasn't searching the room.
He was waiting.
Then he looked directly into the camera.
And smiled.
Maria felt cold.
“Who is that?”
Lucien zoomed in.
The man's face became clearer.
Maria's breath caught.
She knew him.
She had seen him before.
Not in person.
In the photograph from her father's file.
“He was standing beside my father.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“Yes.”
Maria looked at him.
“Who is he?”
Adrian stared at the screen.
His voice was barely a whisper.
“Your father's closest friend.”
Maria's heart pounded.
“But you said he disappeared.”
“He did.”
“Then how is he here?”
Adrian slowly looked at her.
“That,” he said, “is what scares me.”
The screen suddenly went black.
Then Maria's phone—still supposedly taken from her—buzzed inside the pocket of her jacket.
Everyone froze.
Maria slowly reached into her pocket.
Her fingers closed around the phone.
She pulled it out.
There was one new message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
MARIA, DON'T TRUST THE THREE MEN WITH YOU.
Her blood ran cold.
A second message appeared.
THEY ARE NOT YOUR REAL ENEMY.
Maria stared at the screen.
Then a final message appeared.
I AM.
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