Chapter 16 - The Last Stand
The two gunmen charging up the stairs hesitated for a fraction of a second when they saw the massive, scarred beast blocking their path. But Lorenzo’s voice barked from below.
"Shoot the damn dog!"
The men raised their weapons.
With a roar that sounded more like a lion than a dog, Bruno launched himself down the marble stairs. He didn't have the speed he once did, but he had the mass and the element of surprise.
He slammed into the first gunman with the force of a freight train, sending the man tumbling backward down the stairs with a sickening crunch.
The second man panicked and fired his weapon wildly. A bullet grazed Bruno’s shoulder, tearing through fur and flesh, but the dog didn't even flinch. Bruno snapped his massive jaws around the man’s forearm, crushing the bone instantly and forcing him to drop the gun.
The distraction bought Sophia the precious seconds she needed. She darted into Alessandro’s study, slammed the heavy oak door shut, and locked it. She ran to the bookshelf, placed her hand on the biometric scanner, and pushed the secret door open.
"Get inside, Emma," Sophia sobbed, pushing the terrified child into the small, steel-lined room.
"Where is Bruno?" Emma cried, clinging to the doorway. "We can't leave Bruno!"
"He’s coming, baby, I promise, he’s coming," Sophia lied, her heart breaking into a million pieces. She pushed Emma inside and sealed the heavy steel door just as Lorenzo’s men began battering the study door from the outside.
Down in the foyer, Bruno was fighting a losing battle. He had disabled two men, but his old body was giving out. Blood poured from his shoulder, and his back legs were trembling violently.
Lorenzo slowly walked up the stairs, pulling a heavy silver pistol from his waistband. He looked down at the massive dog, who was standing over the whimpering gunman, still baring his blood-stained teeth.
"You're a loyal beast," Lorenzo sneered, raising the pistol and pointing it directly at Bruno’s head. "But loyalty doesn't stop bullets."
Before Lorenzo could pull the trigger, the massive glass window in the front of the foyer shattered inward in a shower of brilliant, violent shards.
Alessandro Moretti came through the broken glass like an avenging demon. He had driven the armored SUV straight through the front gates, ignoring the roads and tearing across the lawn to reach the house in time.
He didn't yell. He didn't hesitate. He landed on the marble floor, his rifle already raised, and fired three rapid, deadly shots.
The three remaining men in the foyer dropped instantly.
Lorenzo spun around, his eyes wide with shock, raising his pistol toward Alessandro.
Alessandro didn't even slow down. He charged up the stairs, moving faster than Lorenzo could track, and violently swatted the pistol out of the man’s hand with the stock of his rifle.
Lorenzo stumbled backward, falling onto the marble landing. Alessandro dropped his rifle, grabbed Lorenzo by the throat, and slammed him against the wall with enough force to crack the plaster.
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"You touched my home," Alessandro whispered, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, demonic rage. "You threatened my daughter."
Lorenzo gasped for air, his arrogance entirely gone, replaced by absolute, primal fear. He was staring into the eyes of the monster he had tried to awaken, realizing too late that some monsters should never be disturbed.
