Chapter 6
The violent retaliation of the Mercer family arrived just after midnight, exactly ten hours after the disastrous sit-down.
Roman was in the war room—a reinforced, windowless bunker beneath the estate—when the alarm klaxons began to wail, flashing harsh red light across the concrete walls. Dante burst into the room, his tactical vest heavily loaded with ammunition.
"Boss, they hit the perimeter!" Dante yelled over the blaring siren. "It’s a coordinated strike. They breached the western gates with an armored truck. At least forty men, heavily armed."
Roman’s expression turned to stone. He methodically strapped a shoulder holster over his dark sweater, checking the slide of his heavy, matte-black pistol. The negative space tattoos on his hands blurred as he moved with lethal efficiency.
"Hold them at the courtyard," Roman ordered, his voice echoing with cold, absolute authority. "Do not let a single man set foot on the marble of my house. Are Nina and Owen in the safe room?"
"Yes, Boss. We moved them the moment the alarms tripped," Dante reported. "I stationed four of our best men outside the steel door."
"I'm going up," Roman commanded, grabbing an assault rifle from the weapons rack. "We choke them at the foyer."
Upstairs, the sound of distant explosions rattled the crystal chandeliers in the grand hallways. Inside the underground panic room, Nina was pacing the floor, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs. The small, reinforced bunker was lit by harsh fluorescent lights, equipped with a bank of security monitors, emergency rations, and a few cots.
Owen sat on one of the cots, holding a plush bear, his round cheeks pale with fear.
"Mommy Nina, loud noises," Owen whimpered, burying his face in his hands despite the soundproofing of the vault.
"It's okay, baby. Papa is going to stop the storm," Nina whispered, rushing over and pulling the toddler into her lap, rocking him gently.
She looked up at the bank of security monitors. The external cameras showed a nightmare unfolding in the luxurious mansion above. The beautifully decorated harvest arrangements had been destroyed, copper bowls of pumpkins crushed under the heavy boots of fighting men. Smoke filled the grand hallways. The Mercer mercenaries were ruthless, but Roman’s men fought with the desperate ferocity of an army defending its king.
On the central monitor, Nina saw him. Roman emerged from the smoke in the grand foyer, moving like a demon forged in violence. He was a force of nature, his assault rifle flashing as he laid down a devastating hail of suppressive fire. He didn't take cover; he advanced, driving the invaders back with sheer, terrifying intimidation.
Nina watched in breathless horror as a Mercer enforcer flanked Roman, raising a shotgun.
"Roman, look out!" Nina screamed at the silent monitor, her hand pressing against the glass.
Roman spun with impossible speed, his weapon roaring. The enforcer dropped before he could pull the trigger. Roman kicked the man's weapon away, advancing relentlessly toward the shattered front doors.
The firefight raged for another twenty agonizing minutes before the remaining Mercer forces, realizing they were being slaughtered, broke and fled into the freezing night.
The radio on the bunker console crackled to life. "Nina," Roman’s exhausted, raw voice echoed into the room.
Nina scrambled to the panel, hitting the button. "Roman! Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," he breathed heavily. "The house is secure. I'm coming down to get you."
When the heavy steel door finally hissed open, Roman stood in the corridor. He was covered in soot, his dark sweater torn, but he was alive. He dropped his weapon and fell to his knees as Nina threw herself into his arms.
"You came back," she cried, burying her face in his neck.
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"I told you I would," Roman whispered, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist, inhaling the scent of her hair. He pulled back, looking deep into her clear eyes, the adrenaline of the battle stripping away all his defenses. "I won't let anything happen to you. I love you, Nina."
Nina’s breath hitched. Amid the blood and ash, the mafia king had just laid his heart at her feet.
