Chapter 7
Elise’s blood ran ice-cold as she stared down the barrel of Celeste’s silver handgun. The heiress looked completely deranged, her pristine hair wildly disheveled, her black coat dusted with plaster, but her eyes burning with a sadistic, triumphant light.
"Get away from us," Elise said, her voice remarkably steady despite the terror threatening to collapse her lungs. She positioned herself firmly in the doorway of the panic room, completely shielding Lucy from Celeste's view.
"You ruined my life," Celeste hissed, taking a slow, menacing step closer into the dim light of the wine cellar. "I was going to be the queen of this city. My father and Damon were going to rule the coast. And he threw me out like garbage because you couldn't keep your mouth shut about an old woman."
"She was freezing to death!" Elise shot back, her clear, expressive eyes blazing with defiant anger. "You tortured the woman who raised him just because she wasn't useful to you."
"Servants are objects, Elise. You are property to be used and discarded," Celeste sneered, her finger tightening on the trigger. "And now, Damon is going to lose his precious property. I'm going to shoot you in the stomach, and then I'm going to take his daughter to my father as a bargaining chip."
"No," Elise said, a fierce, primal maternal instinct igniting in her chest.
She didn't have a weapon, but she had the heavy steel door. As Celeste took another arrogant step forward, raising the gun to fire, Elise threw her entire body weight against the massive steel vault door, swinging it outward with brutal force.
The heavy steel edge slammed directly into Celeste’s extended arm. A sickening crack echoed through the cellar.
Celeste shrieked in absolute agony, dropping the silver handgun as her wrist shattered. She stumbled backward, clutching her mangled arm, her face twisting into a mask of pure, ugly pain.
Elise didn't hesitate. She lunged forward, kicking the dropped handgun deep into the shadows beneath the wine racks, far out of reach. She grabbed Celeste by the lapels of her black tactical coat and shoved the heiress violently backward. Celeste crashed into a massive wooden wine barrel, gasping for air.
"You stupid bitch!" Celeste screamed, tears of pain streaming down her face. "My men are coming! They will slaughter you!"
Before Elise could retreat back to the safety of the panic room, the heavy wooden door at the top of the cellar stairs slammed open. Heavy, frantic footsteps pounded down the stone steps.
Elise spun around, raising her fists, prepared to fight to the death to protect the toddler behind her.
But it wasn't an Arden mercenary.
Damon vaulted down the last few steps, practically carrying Martha. His dark suit was covered in plaster dust, and his angular jaw was locked in a terrifying grimace of lethal intent. He stopped dead when he saw the scene: Elise standing fiercely defensive in front of the open vault, and Celeste bleeding and crying against the wine barrels.
Damon handed Martha to Elise. "Get her inside. Now."
Elise guided the exhausted older woman into the panic room, wrapping her arms around both Martha and Lucy. She didn't close the door, unable to look away from the mafia boss.
Damon walked slowly toward Celeste. The sheer, radiating menace rolling off him was suffocating. He didn't pull his gun. He reached out with his large, tattooed hand and grabbed Celeste by the throat, hoisting her effortlessly until the tips of her shoes barely scraped the concrete floor.
"You came into my house," Damon whispered, his voice a demonic rumble that vibrated through the damp air. "You threatened my daughter. You threatened my family."
"Damon, please," Celeste choked out, her ruby earrings swinging wildly as she clawed uselessly at his iron grip with her one good hand. "My father... he will kill you..."
"Your father is dead," Damon stated coldly. "Silas put a bullet through his skull three minutes ago in my foyer."
Celeste’s eyes widened in absolute, despairing horror.
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With a look of sheer disgust, Damon hurled Celeste across the room. She slammed into the concrete wall and collapsed, unconscious and broken on the cellar floor.
Damon didn't spare her a second glance. He turned and walked into the panic room, pulling the heavy steel door shut behind him, locking the monsters outside.
