“Stay behind me.”
Dante’s voice was low, controlled, but there was no room for argument.
The shattered glass on the floor glittered under the dim light. Footsteps echoed from the corridor outside the safe house, heavy and deliberate. Someone was inside. No hesitation. No warning.
Aruna’s fingers tightened around Dante’s sleeve. Her heartbeat felt too loud, as if it could betray their position.
“How many?” she whispered.
Dante glanced at the monitor. “Four. Maybe five.”
Her stomach dropped. “And us?”
“Enough,” he answered.
The word did not sound comforting. It sounded lethal.
A gunshot tore through the silence.
Aruna flinched, instinctively stepping back, but Dante pulled her behind him, his hand firm on her wrist.
“Don’t move,” he ordered.
Another shot followed, closer this tim
