Chapter 6 - The Barrel in the Moonlight
The silver muzzle gleamed like a predatory eye against the pale square of moonlight spilling through the open hatch.
My chest constricted so violently I forgot how to draw breath. I threw out a hand instinctively, shoving Leo and Lily behind my legs, shielding them with my own body as if a single layer of cotton could stop a high-velocity round.
"Don't move," a voice murmured from the top of the ladder. It wasn't Viktor's raspy rumble, nor was it the harsh, military bark of the intruders who had breached the estate. It was smooth, calm, and utterly familiar—a voice that had called out security reports in the hallway every single morning for the last four months.
Thomas. Head of the morning shift detail, the man who had always handed Leo an extra apple at breakfast and smiled politely when I struggled with heavy grocery crates.
"Thomas?" I breathed, my voice cracking into a pathetic, ragged whisper. "What are you doing? The men upstairs—they're tearing the house apart—"
"They're doing exactly what I paid them to do, Ms. Carter," Thomas replied softly, his boots descending the first rung of the ladder. He stepped down into the stone-vaulted chamber, the suppressed pistol never wavering from the center of my chest. His expression wasn't angry or panicked; it was chillingly serene. "Dominic grew soft the moment he let you and your daughter through those gates. A king who builds a playground in his fortress is asking to be overthrown."
Leo clutched the fabric of my jeans so tightly his knuckles turned chalk-white, burying his face against my hip. Lily let out a sharp, frightened sniffle, but before she could start crying, Thomas shifted his cold gaze down toward the children.
"Smart boy, keeping quiet," Thomas said, stepping closer. "And the little one. It's a shame. But loose ends have a habit of untying themselves if you leave them blowing in the wind."
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"You're the mole," I said, the bitter realization crashing over me with sickening clarity. "You tipped them off about the laughter today. You sold out the boy you guarded for two years."
"Money spends, Ms. Carter," Thomas said, his finger tightening slightly on the trigger. "And Dominic’s empire was ripe for a hostile takeover. Now, step away from the ladder. Climb up one by one, and make this clean, or I put the first bullet through your daughter's head right here in the dark."
