Chapter 47 - The Midnight Extraction
Lucian’s face drained of color. "What did you say?"
Before he could pull his satellite phone from his jacket, the grand chandeliers above the ballroom shattered in a hail of deafening flashbang grenades.
*BANG! BANG!*
The room plunged into deafening chaos. High-society guests screamed, diving under banquet tables and trampling over silk table runners. Red emergency strobe lights flared to life, cutting through the thick smoke.
"Julian, move!" I shouted.
Julian drew his sidearm with lightning reflexes, dropping two Castiglione operatives who charged through the smoke with silenced MP7s. I spun, kicking an oncoming bodyguard in the knee, drawing my Kimber .45, and putting two rounds into his ballistic vest, sending him sprawling across the champagne pyramid.
Lucian attempted to retreat toward the private elevator behind the stage, surrounded by four heavy-armor mercenaries.
"Cover me!" I yelled to Julian.
Julian laid down a lethal volley of suppressive fire, clearing a corridor through the shattered glass. I sprinted across the polished marble, my evening gown tearing along the seam, turning me from an aristocratic guest into a relentless predator.
I vaulted onto the stage, clearing the distance before the elevator doors could slide shut.
I slammed the barrel of my gun against Lucian Castiglione’s forehead, pressing him hard against the mirrored elevator wall.
His personal guards froze, their weapons raised, paralyzed by the sight of their patriarch held hostage.
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"Tell them to drop their weapons," I ordered, my voice dead and absolute. "Drop them, or I paint this mirror with whatever passes for your royal brain."
"Clara..." Lucian wheezed, staring down the black barrel of my gun, the arrogant smirk wiped clean from his face. "You cannot kill me. You need me. Without me, Leo will die."
