“Viper, no!” Wyatt commanded with a voice that sliced through the marble cathedral’s electric tension.

Viper’s painted mask contorted with volcanic rage, his rifle locked on Addison’s trembling form. “Thirty seconds! Your princess dies because she ruined everything!”

“We have the evidence!” Rose declared with tactical urgency. “Mission accomplished!”

“Mission destroyed!” Viper exploded. “We could have walked out with fifty million and justice for our families! Instead, Romeo got distracted by his ex and blew our perfect operation!”

“My family died too!” Viper’s voice cracked with raw fury. “Henderson Consulting murdered my wife and daughter! I wanted justice AND the money to disappear forever! But your bleeding heart compromised everything!”

“The evidence will bring justice!” Wyatt declared.

“Evidence doesn’t bring back the dead!” Viper snarled. “Money could have bought new lives! But you chose her over the mission!”

“Time’s up!”

The rifle erupted with thunder. But instead of tearing through Addison’s heart, the bullet punched into Wyatt’s chest as he hurled his body between weapon and woman. The impact spun him like a broken doll, arterial blood spraying across marble in crimson arcs that painted the cathedral floor.

Bone cracked against stone as Wyatt crashed down, the sound echoing through sudden silence like breaking glass. His tactical vest had deflected nothing—the bullet found flesh and lung with devastating precision.

Blood bubbled from his lips with each desperate breath. His eyes, usually sharp with military focus, grew distant as shock claimed his nervous system. Crimson spread beneath him in expanding pools that reflected cathedral light like dark mirrors.

Jaxon erupted from his position with fury that transformed executive composure into pure violence. His shoulder drove into Viper’s chest with battering-ram force, sending both men crashing against unforgiving marble.

Bone met stone with sickening impact as Jaxon’s fists found their target. Viper’s painted mask cracked under systematic brutality, consciousness departing with each devastating blow until theatrical rage dissolved into motionless silence.

Addison collapsed beside Wyatt’s bleeding form, her hands pressing against wounds that pumped life onto cold stone with each weakening heartbeat. His blood soaked through her fingers, warm and thick and terrifyingly abundant.

“Wyatt!” Her voice shattered across marble like breaking crystal.

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