Page 44 of Vengeance

"I'll take that as a compliment,” Doc said. Footsteps thundered across the cabin floor. Marcus's team had breached the back. Vengeance took one last look toward the hidden passage.

"Doc,” Vengeance called.

"What?"

"If they get past me—” he started.

"They won't,” Doc insisted.

"If they do," Vengeance said.

Doc understood immediately. His face became grim. "I'll die before I allow them to touch her." Vengeance believed him completely.

The first attacker rounded the hallway, and Vengeance fired twice. The man was dead before he hit the floor. A second shooter immediately returned fire, and wood exploded from the wall beside Vengeance's head. There were too many angles and too little cover. Marcus had set a perfect trap. Just as Vengeance began to reposition, another familiar voice drifted in through the broken front door.

"I've got this,” someone shouted. Every shooter inside the cabin stopped firing. Marcus lowered his rifle, and the room fell eerily quiet. Heavy boots crossed the porch, one measured step after another. Vengeance felt his heartbeat hammering in his chest. A tall figure stepped through the ruined doorway, wearing a black leather coat with silver threaded through his dark hair. His cold, gray eyes that looked almost identical to Vengeance's. The years had added lines to his face, but they hadn't softened him—not even a little.

Dante Manzo smiled as though he'd just walked into a family reunion. His gaze settled on Vengeance first. "My son." His eyes shifted past him toward the hidden staircase where Chloe had disappeared. "There you are—" His smile widened. "Princess."

Chloe

Everything inside Chloe froze. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't even blink. She knew that voice, not because she'd heard it often, but because she'd heard it in her nightmares. For years, Dante Manzo was the monster who had haunted every therapy session she'd ever attended. He was the man whose face she'd only seen in old police photos and faded newspaper clippings. He was the man who stole her childhood, and he sounded normal. That terrified her more than if he'd been screaming.

She stood halfway down the narrow stone staircase, one hand gripping the rough wall while Doc shoved gently against her shoulder. "Keep moving," he whispered.

"I—” Her voice disappeared. "I can't."

"You can,” Doc demanded. His weathered face softened. "He knows what he's doing."

"No." Tears filled her eyes. "He doesn't."

Doc frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He'll stay in the cabin to protect me." The words came out broken. "He'll never let them get to me." Doc didn't deny it because they both knew she was right. Above them, the cabin had gone eerily quiet—too quiet. The gunfire had stopped,and that somehow felt worse. She heard footsteps—slow and measured.

Someone chuckled, and the sound made her feel sick. She was sure that it was Dante. “So much like your mother." Chloe heard him say. "So stubborn." A lump formed in her throat. She'd never heard anyone mention Vengeance's mother. Vengeance didn't answer his father.

Dante laughed softly. "I suppose she taught you that silence is golden. I was disappointed when she died."

Chloe heard Vengeance inhale sharply. "Don't." His voice was dangerously low. "Don't talk about her."

"Oh, why not?” Dante sounded amused. "You've finally found your spine."

"I found it the day I walked away from you,” Vengeance spat. The cabin became silent again, and Doc looked at Chloe. His expression said exactly what she was thinking. Keep going. But she couldn't—not while Vengeance was up there and not while Dante was talking about his mother like she was nothing.

She climbed one step upward instead, and Doc grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not leaving him,” she whispered.

His grip tightened. "That's exactly what Dante wants."

"I don't care,” Chloe said.

"You should,” Doc insisted.

"I don't." She gently pulled free. "Vengeance saved my life."

"And now you'll get him killed,” Doc said. The words stopped her, and Doc sighed. "I know what you're feeling."