Page 89

My pleas were met with silence, and I finally turned to face the monitors in the hopes of tracking Rich as he moved through the house. The gym and utility room were in complete disarray. Whatever the intruder had used to breach the manor had blown bits of wood and glass inward and destroyed the equipment and items along the wall.

Three men stood inside the great room, a fourth still in the gallery peeking into the bathroom that shared a wall with the camera room. My eyes flitted over the screens until I finally found Rich. He was leaning against the door in the office nearest my rooms, though I couldn't tell exactly what he was doing there.

I held my breath as he tucked something in the waistband of his pants before he turned and bolted for the door to the veranda. I lost sight of him when he moved toward the front of the house. My eyes settled back on the four men who were now working as a team, moving through the manor with military precision as they breached the doors of my rooms. My heart pounded frantically as I searched for the button to enable audio.

The sound of a window breaking just as I found the button and turned it on echoed in the silence. The four intruders werestill in my rooms, huddled together and speaking in a low murmur, meaning someone else had broken the window. My eyes flew across the screens again, finding Rich climbing into his bedroom window. I sagged down into the nearest computer chair in relief.

My eyes bounced between the screens as I struggled to watch for Rich to reemerge on camera and the four intruders. I nearly missed when three slipped upstairs, leaving one in the foyer. My breaths came in sharp gasps as Rich appeared in the gallery, racing silently toward the end and glancing around the corner.

The lone intruder stood in the foyer, facing the door, and didn't see Rich creeping up on him. He moved with the precision of a predator closing in on its prey as he closed the gap between himself and the intruder. I held my breath, my eyes transfixed on the screen as if some movement from me might shatter his approach.

In one swift move, Rich closed the final distance between them, wrapping his arm around the intruder's neck from behind. The other man jolted with surprise, his hands instinctively reaching up to claw at Rich's arm.

The struggle intensified after a moment as the would-be attacker fought against Rich's grip. His legs kicked out, his body contorting in his attempt to struggle away. Rich, however, maintained his hold with a look of fatal determination. As the seconds ticked by for what felt like an eternity, the stranger's movements weakened as his resistance faded.

Then, in a single fluid motion, Rich twisted his body harshly. The distinct crack of breaking bone resonated through the room from the speakers, chilling in its finality. The intruder's body went limp.

As I watched Rich unceremoniously drop the lifeless body to the floor, my pulse raced with secondhand adrenaline. A partof my brain felt the weight of what I'd just witnessed, but I couldn't help but be relieved he was alright. The knowledge that others were still in the house dulled the sense of relief.

Rich moved toward his right, heading back into the dining room. I followed his movements on the security camera feed, leaning so close to the monitors that I nearly jumped out of my skin when his voice called out through the screen.

"Just stay put, Princess. This will be over soon, and I'll let you out." He said as he stared into the camera above the door.

My hand reached out and hovered over the intercom button. I was torn between wanting to scream at him and not wanting to give his location away to the three remaining men in the manor. He stared into the camera for a moment as if he could see me through it. My fingers reached out and trailed along his image on the screen.

"You better not die, bossy pants." I muttered, even though I knew he couldn't hear me.

The words had barely left my lips when movement behind Rich snagged my attention. I screamed in horror as one of the invaders barreled into Rich from behind. Rich twisted to face his attacker before they landed on the hardwood floor in a tangled heap. My eyes stayed locked on the screen, unable to look away from the pair writhing on the floor as Rich fought to take control.

The room filled with the sounds of their fight–grunts, shouts, and the thud of fists colliding with bodies. Each movement was met with a countermove, an exchange of strength and technique, and each maneuver aimed at gaining the upper hand.

Rich's attacker clawed at his face, attempting to escape his grip. But Rich held him firmly and retaliated with strength and calculated precision to deliver devastating blows. Their struggle became a symphony of controlled violence.

As I watched the intense struggle unfold through the camera feed, a second man appeared on the monitor, stalking toward them. Terror ripped through me, everything seeming to move in slow motion. Grunts and the sound of fists pounding against flesh filled the space around me. Rich had barely gained the upper hand with the man who'd tackled him to the ground when the second intruder lurched forward to close the distance between them.

The man had moved so fast that I barely caught sight of the knife in his hand before it was embedded in Rich's shoulder. My former warden and protector arched back, pinning the man under him to the floor with one hand around his throat while the other reached back, grabbing at the knife. A surge of panic gripped me. I instinctively slammed my hand down on the button for the intercom just as his captive shifted amid the chaos, revealing another knife.

"RICH!" I screamed a second too late.

He roared in agony, the second knife plunging deep into his thigh. Something seemed to snap inside him, his hand releasing the other man's throat and wrenching the blade free of his leg. Jerking to his feet, he leveled a vicious kick to the head of the man on the floor, rendering him unconscious. The room fell into a momentary stillness as Rich turned to face the second invader, his back to the camera.

Though I couldn't see his expression, I could almost feel the crackling intensity in the air as his movements held a frightening edge. The man who'd stabbed him in the shoulder stumbled back, fear creeping into his features. Undeterred, Rich advanced, crowding him until his back was against the far wall.

"Please, man. This was just a job." The man pleaded, his hands raised in a feeble attempt to surrender. His voice trembled with desperation.

Rich didn't respond as he lodged the knife into the man's throat, the force of his attack pinning the man to the wall behind him with the blade, his life slipping away. Turning back toward the camera room, Rich ripped the knife from his shoulder, his gaze pinned on the unconscious man. I held my breath as he strode across the room, crouching beside the motionless figure. The room filled with a deafening silence as he dragged the knife across the man's throat, neutralizing the chance of him rising to pose a threat again.

His eyes flicked to the camera once he was confident the immediate threat was eliminated. The brutal edge that had defined his features moments ago melted away as concern slowly took its place. Before either of us could speak, a shot rang out. Time ground to a halt as Rich's body jerked forward, propelled by the impact of the bullet, a pained grunt slipping from his lips.

"No!" I screamed, my voice filled with anguish. I pressed my hand to the screen as if I could shield him from where I stood.

He turned toward the archway that marked the passage between the foyer and dining room. My eyes slid from him to the camera covering the threshold, and I caught sight of the fourth man just as he pulled the trigger a second time before turning to run for the front door. The sound of the gunfire reverberated through the room. Tears welled in my eyes as I saw Rich's form stumble and falter, his strength and resilience challenged by his wounds.

My heart pounded in my ears as I watched him turn back to the camera as if he could hear my desperate cries urging him to find the strength to endure. His body gave out under the weight of the pain, and he collapsed on the floor.

I ran toward the door of the panic room. Tears streamed down my face as I pounded on the solid surface, the echoes of my pleas bouncing around me. The panic room's impenetrablewalls denying me any response or solace. But I couldn't give up, pushing away the thoughts that he lay dying on the dining room floor, and I was helplessly trapped.

"Rich! Don't you fucking die on me!Rich!" I screamed, pounding on the door until my hands were scrapped and sore and screaming until my voice cracked.