HOUSE OF OMBRA

CHAPTER.THREE

CHAPTER THREE: BLOOD AND SHADOWS

Romano moved through the club like a force of nature.

People stepped back instinctively, creating a path as he walked. His men followed him, silent and lethal, their eyes scanning every corner.

Ava watched from behind the bar, her heart pounding.

He disappeared into the VIP section, the heavy door closing behind him with a thud that seemed to echo through the entire club.

Ava felt Richard’s grip tighten on her arm.

They couldn’t leave now.

Richard pulled her back, away from the entrance, deeper into the crowd.

He leaned close and whispered urgently, “Stay out of sight. Blend in. I’ll find a way to get you out when it’s safe.”

“Richard…”

“I mean it, Ava. Stay hidden.”

Then he melted back into the crowd, disappearing among the masked figures.

Ava straightened herself and headed for the bar.

But she was out of it until the bartender nudged her. “You’re up. VIP needs service.”

Ava’s stomach dropped. “Me?”

“You’re working VIP tonight, aren’t you? Go.”

Ava grabbed a tray with shaking hands, loaded it with expensive bottles and glasses, and headed toward the VIP section.

The guards at the door looked her over, then stepped aside.

She pushed through.

The VIP room was darker than the rest of the club, lit only by dim red lights that cast everything in shadows. The air was thick with tension.

Romano sat at the head of the table, leaning back in his chair, completely relaxed. But his eyes? sharp, cold, calculating, tracked every movement in the room.

Across from him sat another man. Older, with the kind of face that had seen too many fights. Kale.

Standing just behind Romano was a man in a dark suit, his posture rigid, his eyes never leaving Ava as she entered. His hand rested near his waist close to a weapon.

Ava kept her head down and moved to the table, setting down the bottles carefully.

Before she could pour, the man behind Romano stepped forward.

“Taste it first.”

Ava froze. She looked up at him, cold eyes, the kind of man who didn’t ask twice. He looked more important than a usual guard.

“I…what?” Ava said.

“The drink,” he said, his voice flat. “Taste it.”

Ava’s pulse spiked. “I can’t.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why not?”

“The mask,” Ava said quickly, gesturing to her face. “Club rules. No one takes them off. Not even staff.”

The man’s jaw tightened. He looked like he was about to argue, to push harder…

“Damien.”

Romano’s voice cut through the tension, calm but final.

Damien turned to him. “Boss, we can’t be too careful…”

“Leave her.” Romano’s eyes didn’t leave Kale, but his tone left no room for argument.

Damien hesitated, then stepped back, though his gaze stayed locked on Ava.

Ava let out a quiet breath and poured the drinks with shaking hands.

As she set the glass in front of Romano, his eyes flicked to her.

Not her face. Her wrist.

The small butterfly tattoo peeking out from under her sleeve.

Then his gaze shifted to the name tag pinned to her chest.

Alex.

Ava’s heart pounded, but she kept moving, stepping back toward the door.

“Let’s make this simple,” Romano said, his attention returning to Kale. “You’ve lost. Your territory, your men, your reputation, all gone. I’m not here to negotiate. I’m here for your surrender.”

Kale’s jaw tightened. “You think I’ll just hand everything over?”

“I think you’re smart enough to know when you’re beaten.” Romano leaned forward slightly. “Walk away now. Disappear. Or stay and watch everything you’ve built burn to the ground…with you in it.”

Kale’s hands clenched into fists on the table. “And if I refuse?”

Romano’s smile was cold. “Then you won’t be walking out of this city at all.”

Ava slipped out of the VIP room as quietly as she could.

Back in the main club, Ava leaned against the bar, trying to steady her breathing.

Romano had looked at her. Really looked at her.

Did he suspect something was off?.

A crash echoed from the VIP section.

Shouting. Glass shattering.

Then…

Gunfire.

The entire club erupted into chaos.

People screamed, scrambling for the exits. Tables overturned. Bottles smashed against the floor.

Ava ducked behind the bar, her heart hammering in her chest.

More gunshots. Rapid. Close.

The VIP door burst open, and men poured out.

Kale’s gang, weapons drawn, firing wildly.

Romano’s men returned fire, moving with deadly precision. Damien was at the front, his gun raised, covering Romano as they moved.

Then, from the other side of the club, another wave of attackers stormed in.

The police.

Ava’s breath caught.

Her father. Richard. They were here.

The club became a war zone. Bullets tore through the air. Bodies hit the ground.

Ava pressed herself against the bar, trying to stay low, trying to stay alive.

Through the chaos, she saw him.

Romano.

He moved through the gunfire like a shadow, calm and controlled, taking down anyone who got too close.

But even he couldn’t fight off two fronts at once.

A bullet caught him in the side.

He staggered, his hand going to the wound, blood seeping through his fingers. He ducked behind the bar where Ava was hiding.

Ava saw him and instincts kicked in before she could think.

“Get down!” she shouted, pulling him behind an overturned table.

“Stay still,” Ava said to Romano, her voice sharp and urgent.

Romano looked at her, surprise flickering in his eyes.

She pressed her hands against the wound, applying pressure. Blood soaked through her fingers, warm and sticky.

Bullets tore through the air around them. Glass exploded. The club was falling apart.

But Ava focused. Hands steady. Pressure firm.

She grabbed a piece of torn fabric from the table and wrapped it tightly around the wound. “This won’t hold for long. You need a hospital.”

“I’ll survive,” Romano said through gritted teeth.

Across the room, hidden behind an overturned booth, Carlos crouched low, his weapon drawn but unused.

He’d lost track of Richard in the chaos. The last he’d seen, his best friend had been moving through the crowd.

Carlos’s stomach dropped when he spotted Ava behind the bar, her hands covered in blood, working frantically on Romano Alfonso of all people.

Richard must have seen her too.

Carlos scanned the room desperately, trying to find his partner…

Then he saw it.

A figure in the shadows. Not the police. Not Kale’s gang.

One of Romano’s own men.

The man raised his weapon, steady and cold, aiming through the smoke and chaos.

The red laser sight cut through the darkness.

It settled on Romano’s chest first, but Romano was behind cover, blocked by Ava’s body as she worked on his wound.

The laser moved.

Onto Ava.

Carlos’s breath caught. He started to move, to shout a warning…

But someone was faster.

Richard.

He burst through the chaos like a bullet himself, his face twisted in pure terror.

“AVA!”

The shot rang out.

Richard slammed into Ava with his full weight, knocking her aside.

They hit the ground hard.

For a moment, everything was silent.

Carlos watched, frozen in horror, as Richard’s body went limp.

Blood.

So much blood.

The shooter in the shadows lowered his weapon and melted back into the chaos, disappearing as if he’d never been there.

But Carlos had seen him.

Seen his face.

For a moment, everything was silent.

Then Ava felt it.

Warm. Wet.

Blood.

Not hers.

Richard’s.

“No,” Ava whispered, her voice breaking. “No, no, no…”

Ava blinked, dazed, confused. “Richard, what…”

Romano pushed himself up, staring down at them.

“Boss!”

Damien appeared through the smoke, breathing hard, his suit torn and bloodied. Two other men followed him.

“We need to move. Now,” Damien said urgently, grabbing Romano’s arm.

“Where the hell were you?” Romano snapped.

“Securing the back exit,” Damien said quickly. “Come on!”

Romano hesitated, his eyes on Ava, on the girl who’d saved his life

“Then Damien pulled him hard. “Boss, we have to go!”

Romano’s men surrounded him, creating a barrier as they fought toward the exit.

Romano glanced back once.

Then he was gone.

“HELP!” Ava screamed, her voice raw and desperate. “SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

Her hands pressed frantically against Richard’s chest, but the blood kept coming. Too much. Too fast.

“Richard, stay with me,” she begged, her voice breaking. “Please, please stay with me—”

Officers were rushing through the club now, securing the scene, checking bodies.

“HELP!” Ava screamed again.

Footsteps pounded toward her.

Then a voice—familiar, shocked, horrified.

“Ava?”

She looked up.

Alfred stood frozen, his face white as death.

For a split second, he didn’t understand. His daughter. Here. In the middle of this nightmare.

Then his eyes dropped to Richard.

“No,” Alfred whispered. “No, no, no…”

He dropped to his knees beside them, his hands immediately going to Richard’s wound.

“We need to move him. Now.”

Together they lifted Richard, his body heavy and limp.

The ambulance was already outside, waiting.

They burst through the doors into the cold night air. Sirens wailed. Lights flashed.

They loaded Richard onto the stretcher.

Ava climbed in after him, her hands never leaving the wound. Alfred climbed in, and the ambulance doors slammed shut.

As they screamed through the streets, Ava kept pressure on the wound, kept whispering.

“I’m here. I’m right here. Don’t leave me.”

But Richard’s eyes stayed closed.

And the blood wouldn’t stop.