Pure elation floods through me, so intense it makes my knees weak.
He came for me.
My father came for me.
I’m going to be rescued.
I’m going to gohome.
I pound on the window with my fists, screaming at the top of my lungs. “I’m here! I’m in the house! Second floor!”
But the window is thick and the battle is loud and no one can hear me.
I spin around and run to the door, pounding on it with everything I have.
“Dad! Daddy, I’m in here!” My voice cracks but I keep screaming. “Someone! Anyone! I’m locked in here!”
I can hear guards in the hallway, their voices urgent and sharp as they communicate with each other.
Someone’s calling for reinforcements.
Someone else is saying something about the south gate being breached.
More gunfire. So much closer now that it sounds like it’s right outside.
I back away from the door, my breath coming in short gasps, and look around wildly for anything I can use as a weapon.
The lamp on the nightstand?
I could smash someone in the head with that if I had to.
The letter opener is gone but one of those philosophy texts could actually be useful.
The pen…could I stab someone with a pen?
God, I hope I don’t have to find out.
The battle sounds like it’s everywhere now.
There’s gunfire coming from multiple directions, shouting in Italian and English, more explosions that shake the entire building.
I can hear running footsteps in the hallway, someone barking orders, and the sound of breaking glass from somewhere downstairs.
Come on, Dad. Comeon. You’re so close.
I position myself behind the bed, the lamp clutched in my hands, ready to either defend myself or hit Leo Santoro if he tries to stop my rescue.
My whole body is shaking, but I don’t know if it’s from fear or the pure desperate hope that this nightmare is about to end.
Minutes pass like hours.
The gunfire is constant now, a horrible soundtrack that makes my ears ring and my heart hammer against my ribs.
At one point bullets punch through the wall of my bedroom—actual bullets, tearing through the plaster and sending debris flying—and I dive behind the bed with a scream, covering my head with my hands.
Oh god oh god oh god.
I stay there, pressed against the floor with my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest, while the battle rages around me.