Chapter 5 - The Siege on the Ridge
Marco ended the call, his face as hard as carved marble. He turned to Elena, his eyes sharp with command, yet desperate with concern.
"We have to leave. Now."
"Leave?" Elena stood up, her instincts flaring. "This is my home, Marco! I have built everything here!"
"Arthur knows where you are, Elena," Marco said, grabbing her by the shoulders gently but firmly. "He knows about the twins. He knows that if I present a legitimate heir to the Bellini trust, his control is destroyed forever. He isn't playing by corporate rules anymore. He’s desperate, and a desperate man with hundreds of millions of dollars is lethal."
Outside, the rain picked up, turning into a torrential downpour. The lead guard from the black SUV bumped open the front door, stepping inside with his hand resting near his concealed holster.
"Boss, we have movement on the ridge road," the security chief reported calmly. "Three unregistered vehicles coming up the pass. Five minutes out."
Elena’s heart leaped into her throat. She ran to the bedroom, gathering Leo and Maya in her arms. "Mommy, what's wrong?" Maya whimpered, sensing the sudden spike in adrenaline filling the room.
"Nothing, baby, we're just going on a little trip with... with Marco," Elena soothed, grabbing a pair of small coats and wrapping them around the toddlers.
Marco walked into the bedroom, stepping past Elena to pull a heavy waterproof duffel bag from his guard’s hands. He reached into his coat, pulled out a small, metallic silver tracking band, and looked at Elena. "Put these on their ankles. Encrypted GPS. If we get separated for even a second, I will know where they are."
Elena nodded without arguing. The time for anger and resentment was paused; her children’s lives were on the line.
"Out the back," Marco ordered his guards. "We take the mountain trail to the secondary LZ where the helicopter is waiting. Leave the SUVs at the front to draw their attention."
They moved swiftly out the back door into the freezing downpour. Marco took Leo into his arms, shielding the boy under his heavy wool coat, while Elena carried Maya, closely flanked by two armed guards. They trudged up the muddy, wooded incline behind the cabin just as the roar of heavy engines echoed from the front driveway.
From fifty yards up the tree line, Elena looked back through the thick brush. Three gray pickup trucks smashed through her wooden perimeter fence. Men in tactical gear poured out, breaching the front door of her small cottage with battering rams, weapons drawn.
Tears sprang to Elena’s eyes as she watched the peaceful home she had built for three years being violated. Marco stopped, turning back to stand beside her. He saw the tears on her wet face.
He reached out, his warm, strong hand wrapping around hers, squeezing tightly.
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"I let them destroy our home once, Elena," Marco vowed, his voice echoing over the thunder. "I swear to God, I will never let them touch it again. I will buy you a hundred homes, but right now, let me protect our family."
Elena looked at his eyes—the same eyes looking up at her from Leo’s face in Marco’s arms. She squeezed his hand back. "Take us to safety, Marco."
