CHAPTER 84 — STORM OVER THE MOUNTAIN

CHAPTER 84 — STORM OVER THE MOUNTAIN
DONOVAN’S POV

I watched from across the room as Damien led Violet toward Marco, my jaw tight with a tension. 
Alistair’s voice crackled in my earpiece, informing me that they were in position and just waiting for my signal to move.

“Everything’s going according to plan,” Alistair said quietly. 
“My teams are in place, explosives are set, and we’ve disabled most of the external security systems. Laura’s been spotted meeting with Marco’s tech team, so she must be up to something, but we can’t tell what yet.”

“I’ve got eyes on her,” I said, scanning the room until I spotted her near the main control panel, pretending to adjust her dress while her fingers worked quickly over the keypad. 
“I think she’s accessing their security feed and she knows we’re here.”

“Should we abort?” Alistair asked, but I could hear the reluctance in his voice. We’d spent too long planning this to walk away now.

“Negative,” I said firmly, moving through the crowd toward the balcony where Marco stood addressing his guests. 
“We proceed as planned. Just be ready to move faster than we thought.”

Marco’s voice boomed through the speakers as I climbed the stairs to the balcony. “For too long, this city has been divided by petty rivalries and outdated loyalties! But tonight, we unite under one banner – the banner of the Moretti family, with my beautiful wife Eleanor by my side and our secret weapon to ensure our success!”

The spotlight shifted to Violet, and I saw her stiffen as every eye in the room turned to look at her. 
How the hell did he recognized her in all that disguise.
“Violet Lancaster!” Marco continued, his voice dripping with false warmth. 
“The daughter of two great families, who has graciously agreed to help us merge the old ways with the new! Together, we will build a city where power is shared, loyalty is rewarded, and those who stand against us… well, they will learn the price of betrayal!”

Before he could say more, I stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. “That’s enough, Marco.”

He spun around, his eyes narrowing when he saw me. 
“Donovan Einstein. I should have known you’d show up uninvited. Can’t stand to see someone else succeed where you’ve failed?”

“Success?” I laughed, but there was no humor in it. 
“You call kidnapping, murder, and manipulation success? You’ve turned this city into a war zone, all for your own greed.”

“Greed is just another word for ambition,” Marco said coldly, his hand moving to his waist where I knew he kept his weapon. 
“And ambition is what makes men great. Unlike you, Donovan, you’ve let sentimentality weaken you. Let this woman” he gestured to Violet “ to cloud your judgment.”

“Violet isn’t a weakness,” I said, moving to stand beside her and Damien on the balcony. 
“She’s our strength and if you think you can use her to take over this city, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Just then, the sound of explosions echoed through the mountain, shaking the very foundations of the compound. The lights flickered and died, plunging the room into a complete darkness except for the emergency exit signs glowing red in the shadows.

“Now!” Alistair’s voice crackled in my earpiece. 
“Move now!”

Chaos erupted as guests screamed and scrambled for the exits. Marco’s men drew out their weapons, but Damien was already moving, disarming two of them with a brutal efficiency before they could even aim.

“Violet, stay with me!” I said, pulling her toward the balcony door as gunfire erupted throughout the hall. 
“We need to find your mother now!”

We burst into the hallway, Damien covering our ears as we moved toward Marco’s private quarters where we’d spotted Eleanor disappearing moments before the lights went out.

“Left at the third door!” Damien shouted over the sound of gunfire and alarms blaring through the compound. 
“I saw her head that way with two of Marco’s men!”

I pushed Violet ahead of me, my hand on the gun at my waist as we rounded the corner. 
Two guards stood outside a heavy oak door, their weapons raised as they scanned the hallway. Before they could react, Damien moved like lightning while taking them both down with precise strikes to their knees and necks.

“Clear!” he said, kicking one guard’s weapon away as I pulled open the door.

The room beyond that was dark, but moonlight streamed through a large window overlooking the valley below. Eleanor stood by the window, her hands clenched at her sides as Marco pressed a gun to her temple. Laura stood beside him, her face impassive as she held a tablet displaying multiple camera feeds.

“Going somewhere, Eleanor?” Marco sneered, pressing the gun harder against her head. “I thought we had an agreement, you help me and I keep your daughter safe.”
"What the hell Marco, this is low even for you. She's your wife." He didn't reply, he just ignores me while looking at Violet.
“Safe?” Violet asked, steppt forward, her voice calm despite been surrounded by danger.
“You’ve done nothing but put her in danger since you married her. Let her go, Marco. This ends tonight.”

Marco laughed, a harsh sounding laugh. “Ends? This is just beginning, my dear. Laura here has been very helpful and she told me everything about your little plan to sneak into my compound through the old tunnels.”

My blood ran cold as I looked at Laura. “You betrayed us,” I said quietly, my hand tightening on my gun. “After everything we’ve been through.”

“I did what I had to do,” she said, her voice flat. “Marco promised me that if I helped him, he’d let me have what I want. What we were supposed to have before everything fell apart.”

“And what’s that?” Damien asked, moving to stand beside Violet protectively. 
“A life built on lies and murder? Is that really what you want?”

Before she could answer, the wall beside us exploded inward, sending debris flying across the room. Alistair tumbled through the gap, followed by two of our men, their weapons raised.

“Sorry we’re late,” he said, pressing his hand to a cut on his forehead. 
“Laura’s modifications to the security system made getting through the tunnels more… challenging than we expected.”

Marco’s eyes widened as more of our men poured into the room, surrounding him on all sides. But he didn’t lower his weapon, if anything, he pressed it harder against Eleanor’s head.

“One move,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.
“And she dies. Along with every person in this compound because I’ve wired the whole place to blow if anything happens to me.”

I saw Violet’s eyes flick to the tablet in Laura’s hands, then to a small device clipped to Marco’s belt, it's a detonator. She took a slow step forward, her hands raised in surrender.

“Let her go, Marco,” she said again, her voice soft but unyielding. 
“You know you can’t win this."
"I can, trust me because this is my domain and I call the shot here." He said with a repulsive smirk.
"And just so you know, you're surrounded and so is that brother of yours and his team. Alistair is it?"