Chapter 4 - The Rescue and the Reckoning
A wave of cold, stagnant air rushed out of the cellar.
“Lily!” Leo dropped his pistol into his holster and plunged into the darkness.
Beatrice hurried in right behind him. The emergency overhead bulb flickered to life, illuminating rows of vintage wine racks and, huddled in the far corner near a wooden crate, a small, limp bundle of yellow cotton.
“Lily!” Leo dropped to his knees, scooping the little girl into his arms.
Her face was bluish-gray, her eyes half-closed, her chest barely moving.
“Bring the medical kit!” Leo roared back at Marcus, his voice cracking with a terrifying raw panic that no enemy had ever witnessed.
Marcus rushed forward with a portable oxygen unit and emergency nebulizer kept in the security locker. With trembling hands that defied his hardened exterior, Leo fitted the plastic mask over Lily’s face, turning the valve on the oxygen tank.
For five agonizing seconds, nothing happened.
Then, deep inside the mask, a ragged, whistling breath echoed.
Lily’s small chest hitched. She drew in a deep, desperate gulp of oxygen, her eyelids fluttering open. She looked up through the clear plastic mask at the man holding her.
“Daddy...?” she whispered, her voice barely a thread.
Leo pressed his face against her dark curls, his broad shoulders trembling once—just once—before hardening back into unyielding steel. He pulled her tight against his chest, wrapping her in his warm overcoat.
“I’ve got you, baby,” Leo murmured, his voice thick with emotion. “Daddy’s here. Nobody is ever going to hurt you again.”
He looked up at Beatrice, who stood quietly in the corner, wiping blood from her lip with the back of her torn sleeve.
“Marcus,” Leo said, standing up with Lily cradled securely in his arms.
“Yes, boss?”
“Take my daughter to the master suite. Get Dr. Vance on the secure line immediately. If her temperature drops another fraction of a degree, I want a full medical team in this house within ten minutes.”
“Done.” Marcus carefully took the little girl from Leo’s arms, offering Beatrice a brief, respectful nod before carrying Lily upstairs.
Leo turned around slowly in the empty cellar. He walked out into the corridor, where Beatrice followed, her knees shaking from the sudden drop in adrenaline.
“Mr. Rossi... I’m sorry,” Beatrice whispered, bowing her head. “I broke your office door. I touched your phone. I couldn't just... I couldn't let her—”
“Beatrice,” Leo interrupted.
She stopped, looking up into his dark, unreadable eyes.
“You broke my door,” Leo said, his voice deadly calm. “You used my private line. And you defied an order to stay away from the family wing.”
Beatrice braced herself for the firing squad. She closed her eyes, waiting for the sentence.
Instead, Leo stepped closer and gently placed his hand—warm, heavy, and steady—on her uninjured shoulder.
“You also saved my daughter’s life,” Leo finished quietly. “In this house, that makes you the only person whose word carries more weight than my own.”
May you like
Before Beatrice could process the words, heavy footsteps echoed from the upper landing. Marcus came running down the stone steps, looking grim.
“Boss. You need to come upstairs. Now.”
