The wallet hit the tile with a sound like a bone breaking. Dante Moretti did not move at first.

At 11:30 AM, the peaceful silence of the Lake Forest estate was shattered by the crackle of tactical radios.

“Perimeter breach on the northern tree line!” Marco’s voice echoed through the command intercom. “Six armed contractors in unmarked gear advancing toward the private conservatory!”

Inside the master suite, Elena gasped, pulling Lily into her arms.

“Dante!”

Dante stood calmly by the wardrobe, strapping a customized Kimber .45 into his shoulder holster, before slipping his dark tailored blazer over it.

He walked over to Elena, cupping her cheek with absolute, unshakeable serenity.

“Stay in the reinforced vault behind the dressing room, Elena,” Dante said gently. “Marco is outside the door. This will take three minutes.”

Dante walked down the grand marble staircase, stepping out onto the glass terrace of the conservatory.

The six mercenaries breached the iron terrace doors, assault rifles raised at low-ready.

They expected a terrified family.

Instead, they found twelve elite Moretti Black Watch operators emerging from the flanking pillars, laser sights painting the chest of every intruder.

Crack-crack-crack.

Within forty-five seconds, without a single civilian inside the house hearing a disturbance, five mercenaries were disarmed and pinned face-down onto the flagstones.

The lead mercenary commander, wounded in the shoulder, looked up in terror as Dante walked across the terrace.

Dante stopped three inches from the bleeding man.

“Who paid your retainer for this hit?” Dante asked softly.

“Julian Moretti!” the mercenary gasped, clutching his shattered arm. “Fifty thousand in cash wired from his Cayman account! He gave us the perimeter codes!”

Dante pulled out his phone, snapped a high-resolution photo of the captured contractors and their weapons manifest, and slipped the phone into his pocket.

“Tie them up and load them into the transport van, Marco,” Dante commanded.

“Where are we taking them, Boss?”