Chapter 17 - The glass that shattered
The order ignited instant chaos. Before Castiglione’s lead guard could shoulder his weapon, Damiano drew his sidearm with inhuman speed and fired two clean shots, dropping the front man instantly onto the marble foyer. The deafening roar of gunfire shattered the silence of the estate. High-caliber rounds chewed into the ornate mahogany pillars and ripped through the antique tapestries, sending clouds of white plaster and splintered wood flying through the air. Damiano grabbed Sophia by the collar of her coat, shoving her behind a massive marble statue as bullets ricocheted wildly across the entrance.
"Down! Stay down!" Damiano commanded, firing systematically with cold, lethal precision, dropping two more hostile gunmen who attempted to breach the grand staircase. Sophia pressed her back against the cold stone, her heart hammering against her ribs, but her mind remained razor-sharp. Through the billowing smoke and muzzle flashes, she noticed something horrifying: Luca, the chief of security, was not firing at Castiglione’s men. He was standing on the upper landing, methodically disabling the automatic lockdown overrides on the wall panel. He was opening the secondary security blast doors that led directly down toward the nursery vaults.
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"Damiano! Look up!" Sophia screamed over the thunderous exchange of gunfire, pointing toward the mezzanine. Damiano glanced upward, his eyes widening in pure fury as he realized the true depth of the betrayal. Luca was not just negligent; he was Castiglione’s paid mole inside the Moretti inner sanctum. It was Luca who had allowed the convoy through the gates without triggering the alarm sirens, and it was Luca who had placed the poisonous compound in the pantry to weaken the child. "Luca!" Damiano’s roar shook the very foundation of the hall, but the security chief merely smiled cold, drew his weapon, and aimed it directly down at Damiano’s head.
Before Luca could squeeze the trigger, a sharp crack rang out from beside Damiano. Sophia had stepped out from behind the marble pedestal, both hands locking the pearl-handled pistol in a steady, textbook two-handed grip. The bullet tore straight through Luca’s shoulder, knocking the traitor off balance and sending his rifle clattering down into the foyer below. Luca screamed in agony, clutching his shattered collarbone as he scrambled backward into the shadows of the upper corridor, leaving a heavy trail of dark red blood across the white tiles.
