chapter 17: Between Love And Revenge

MARA’S POV

The western gate exploded before I reached the staircase.

The blast shook the mansion, sending glass raining across the floor. Somewhere below, men shouted over the thunder of gunfire.

I tightened my grip on my rifle.

“Victor, status!”

“Three vehicles inside the perimeter! Our western team is pinned down. They're advancing toward the main building!”

“How many men?”

“Twenty at least!”

I looked toward Dante.

He was already reaching for his weapon, his injured side stiff beneath his shirt.

“You're staying here,” I told him.

He gave me a murderous look.

“You have got to stop saying that.”

“Then stop giving me reasons to say it.”

“Mara, this is my home.”

“And I'm trying to keep it from becoming your funeral.”

A bullet struck the window beside us.

We both dropped.

Dante crawled toward the wall, pulled out his phone, and called the head of estate security.

“Activate the inner perimeter. Get every available man to the eastern corridor. Nobody approaches the children's shelter unless they know the security phrase.”

He ended the call and looked at me.

“Now can we go?”

I stared at him.

“You are impossible.”

“You married me.”

“Financial pressure. I've explained this.”

Despite everything, he laughed.

Then he caught my hand and pulled me close.

For a brief moment, the gunfire seemed distant.

“Listen to me,” he said. “If we get separated, you go straight to the children.”

“And if you get separated?”

“I find you.”

“Wrong answer.”

His eyebrows drew together.

“You find the children first,” I told him. “Then you find me.”

He stared at me, his expression softening.

“You really are going to make me learn how to share control.”

“It's a difficult lesson. Try to keep up.”

He kissed me quickly, his hand resting against my cheek.

“Come back to me, General.”

I pressed my forehead against his.

“Always, husband.”

Then we separated and ran toward the stairs.

---

DANTE’S POV

The mansion had been my fortress long before Mara entered my life.

Every corridor had security cameras. Every entrance had armed guards. The walls surrounding the estate were high enough to discourage ordinary criminals.

But Rafael Voss had never been an ordinary enemy.

He had studied my operations for years. He knew my men, my habits, and the weaknesses I had overlooked because I believed my own name was enough to frighten people away.

Now he was inside my home.

And my daughters were somewhere beneath it.

I reached the eastern corridor with Mara beside me. Two guards were firing through the windows at attackers advancing across the garden.

“Where are they coming from?” I demanded.

“Western gate, sir. They're using the garden wall as cover.”

Mara studied the courtyard.

“They want us to concentrate our men here.”

I looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because the main entrance is the obvious target. If they can keep your guards occupied, another team can approach the secondary shelter.”

The thought sent ice through my veins.

I grabbed my radio.

“Security team three, report.”

Static.

“Team three, report!”

Nothing.

Mara's expression changed.

“Dante, the eastern cameras are down.”

I swore under my breath.

She turned to Victor.

“Take four men to the shelter entrance. Don't use the eastern corridor. Go through the kitchen passage.”

Victor nodded and hurried away.

I caught Mara's arm.

“You're not going anywhere alone.”

She looked down at my hand.

“I'm not planning to.”

A loud crash sounded from the floor below.

Then a guard screamed.

Mara moved first.

I followed her down the staircase, ignoring the sharp pain in my side.

We found two attackers inside the reception hall. One was struggling with a guard; the other was raising his weapon toward the staircase.

Mara fired before he could pull the trigger.

The man fell.

I took cover behind a pillar and fired at the second attacker, forcing him away from the guard. Mara crossed the room and struck him with the butt of her rifle, disarming him before he could recover.

Within seconds, both men were down.

She turned toward the wounded guard.

“Can you stand?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Then get to the medical room. Lock the door behind you.”

He hurried away.

I stared at my wife.

Even in the middle of a firefight, she moved with a frightening calmness. She didn't waste bullets or energy. Every movement had a purpose.

I had married her because my family's debt demanded it.

I was beginning to realize that the marriage had given me the one person I could trust with my life.

A burst of gunfire interrupted my thoughts.

Mara grabbed my arm.

“Move!”

We crossed the hall just as bullets tore through the wooden doors behind us.

Then my phone vibrated.

An incoming video call.

Unknown number.

I answered.

Rafael appeared on the screen, standing in what looked like a dimly lit warehouse.

“Dante.”

I raised the phone.

“Come to my house and attack my family? You've become desperate.”

Rafael smiled.

“Your house? Your men? Your money? You really believe all of it belongs to you.”

“I built my empire.”

“And now you're watching it burn.”

I heard Mara's breathing beside me.

Rafael noticed her.

“Ah. The General. Always standing beside you, isn't she?”

I stepped in front of Mara.

“Leave her out of this.”

“That's becoming difficult. She's the only reason your men are still fighting instead of running.”

His smile disappeared.

“Bring her to me, Dante. Give me the eastern ports and withdraw your men from my territory. Do that, and perhaps I'll let your family live.”

I laughed coldly.

“You've already threatened my daughters, attacked my home, and sent men to kill my wife. Why would I believe a word you say?”

“Because you have something I want.”

“And you have something I want.”

Rafael's eyes narrowed.

“What is that?”

“Your head.”

I ended the call.

Mara stared at me.

“That was not a very diplomatic conversation.”

“I'm not feeling diplomatic.”

“Good. Neither am I.”

Then Victor's voice came through the radio.

“Sir! The secondary shelter is secure, but we've found a problem.”

My stomach tightened.

“What problem?”

“One of the guards assigned to protect the children is missing.”

Mara went completely still.

“Are Sofia and Lia safe?”

“Yes, General. They're inside the shelter with two guards. But the missing man had access to the security system.”

I looked at Mara.

She already understood.

Someone had helped Rafael get inside.

Again.

---

MARA’S POV

We found the missing guard's access card beside a service door.

There was blood on it.

I crouched and examined the floor.

“Fresh,” I murmured.

Dante stood behind me, his weapon raised.

“Do you think he's dead?”

“Not necessarily.”

I picked up the card.

“But someone wanted us to find this.”

A metallic crash sounded from the passage ahead.

Dante moved toward it.

I caught his wrist.

“Wait.”

He looked at me.

I pointed toward a narrow service corridor.

“The sound came from there, but the door is still locked. Whoever made it wanted us to investigate.”

“So we don't?”

“We investigate properly.”

I signalled to two guards to cover the entrance. Then I moved toward a side passage that led behind the kitchen.

The air smelled of smoke.

A shadow moved near the rear door.

“Stop!” I shouted.

The figure bolted.

I pursued him through the passage, with Dante following despite my earlier warnings. The man reached the back entrance and pulled a pistol from his waistband.

I fired.

The shot struck the wall beside his hand, forcing him to drop the weapon.

He turned and ran straight into Dante.

My husband slammed him against the door and twisted his arm behind his back.

“Who sent you?” Dante demanded.

The man remained silent.

Dante tightened his grip.

“Rafael?”

The man laughed nervously.

“You're already finished, Blackwood.”

Dante's expression darkened.

I stepped closer.

“Tell us what you did to the security system.”

He looked at me.

Then his eyes moved toward Dante's injured side.

“Your wife can't protect everyone.”

I struck him across the face with the back of my hand.

“Answer the question.”

He spat blood onto the floor.

Before either of us could react, a sharp crack sounded outside.

The man jerked in Dante's grip.

A bullet had struck him through the open doorway.

He collapsed.

Dante dragged me behind the wall as more shots tore through the entrance.

“Sniper!” I shouted.

We crouched behind a heavy cabinet while our guards returned fire.

I peered through the narrow gap beside the door.

A dark vehicle was speeding away from the rear boundary.

“Victor, get a vehicle after them! Don't engage unless you have a clear advantage!”

“Understood!”

Dante looked down at the dead guard.

“He was working for Rafael.”

“Probably,” I replied. “But we still don't know who gave him access.”

Dante's jaw tightened.

“Vivienne.”

“Possibly. But we need proof.”

He looked at me as though he wanted to argue.

I held his gaze.

“Your sister is a traitor. That doesn't mean we stop thinking.”

He exhaled slowly.

“You're right.”

It was a small admission, but it meant something.

Together, we returned to the security room.

The estate was still under attack, but our men had begun pushing the intruders back toward the western gate. Outside, gunfire gradually faded into isolated bursts.

Then Victor entered, carrying a bloodstained envelope.

“We recovered this from the vehicle that escaped.”

Dante opened it.

Inside was a photograph of the eastern port, marked with several locations. Beneath it was a handwritten message.

The next strike will be bigger.

Dante's expression hardened.

I turned the photograph over.

A second message had been written on the back.

Ask your sister what Rafael promised her.

Dante stared at the words.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke.

Then he folded the photograph and placed it in his pocket.

“Vivienne has crossed the final line.”

I looked toward the dark windows.

“No,” I said quietly. “She crossed it a long time ago.”

He reached for my hand.

“What do we do now?”

I looked at the blood on my sleeve, the damaged walls, and the men moving through the corridor to secure the house.

Then I thought of Sofia and Lia, waiting in their shelter, frightened by a war they had never chosen.

“We stop reacting to Rafael's moves,” I said. “We find where he's hiding, cut off his men, and take away every advantage he has.”

Dante squeezed my hand.

“And Vivienne?”

My voice turned cold.

“She made her choice.”

He drew me close, resting his forehead against mine.

“I don't know how I would have survived this without you.”

I touched his cheek.

“You don't have to survive it without me.”

For a moment, we stood together in the wreckage of our home.

Then a guard rushed into the room.

“Sir! We have a new development.”

Dante straightened.

“What?”

The guard swallowed.

“We've intercepted a call from Rafael's men. They're moving toward the eastern port again.”

I looked at Dante.

The attack on our estate had been a distraction.

Rafael was preparing something bigger, and he wanted us too exhausted to stop him.

I picked up my weapon.

“Get the cars ready.”

Dante caught my hand.

“Mara, wait.”

I turned.

He kissed me, holding me close for one brief moment before resting his forehead against mine.

“Whatever happens tonight,” he whispered, “we finish this together.”

I looked into his eyes.

“Together.”

Then we walked toward the door.

Outside, the estate still smelled of smoke and gunpowder.

Our home had been attacked. Our children had been threatened. Our enemies were still free.

But Rafael had made one mistake.

He had given me a reason to stop playing defence.

The next time I went after him, I wasn't going to let him escape.