<h4>Chapter 98: The Final Hour</h4>


    Dominic''s body screamed in pain, but adrenaline surged through his veins. He grabbed Alyssa''s arm, pulling her to her feet. The mansion was crumbling around them, smoke filling the air, rms echoing down the corridors. There was no time to think—only to act.


    "He''s got a hidden escape route," Alyssa said, coughing through the smoke. "He''s not gone yet."


    Dominic nodded, his vision blurry but his focus sharp. "We can''t let him slip away."


    They sprinted out of the destroyed room and down the hallway, dodging debris and skidding around corners. The explosions were likely intended to bury evidence and cover Kusov''s retreat. Dominic''s mind raced, trying to calcte where the escape route could be hidden in the mansion''sbyrinthineyout.


    His earpiece crackled to life. It was Marcus. "We heard the explosion. What''s your status?"


    "We''re alive, but Kusov triggered something. The whole ce is rigged to blow. He''s trying to get out through a hidden exit," Dominic replied, his voice tight.


    Laura''s voice cut in. "If he''s got a tunnel, it would lead out through the old cers beneath the east wing. I''m pulling up the ns now. You''ve got a minute, maybe two, before the main structure copses."


    "Copy that," Dominic said. "We''re on it."


    He and Alyssa pushed forward, weaving through the crumbling mansion. Dominic''s thoughts were a blur of strategy and fury. After everything, Kusov was still trying to escape. After all the lives he''d destroyed, the chaos he''d wrought, he thought he could walk away unscathed.


    Not this time.


    They reached the eastern wing, descending a narrow stone staircase that led into the cer. The air grew colder, the darkness thicker. The stone walls closed in around them, making every breath feel heavier.


    Alyssa raised her shlight, illuminating the path ahead. "It should be through here. A tunnel system probably centuries old."


    Dominic spotted faint tracks in the dust on the floor footprints. "He was here. Recently."


    The two of them hurried deeper into the cer, the sounds of the mansion crumbling above them growing louder and more distant. The tunnel opened into arger room, dimly lit by a single hanging bulb. In the center of the room, a thick metal door was set into the wall Kusov''s escape route.


    Dominic''s heart pounded as he stepped toward it. "He''s not getting away."


    But as they approached, the door suddenly slid open.


    Kusov stepped out, his face dark with fury, a pistol gripped tightly in his hand. Behind him stood two of his remaining mercenaries, their weapons raised.


    For a split second, the room was still.


    Then, the gunfire erupted.


    Dominic and Alyssa dove for cover behind an old stone pir, bullets ricocheting off the walls around them. The sound was deafening in the enclosed space. Dust and debris filled the air as the firefight raged on.


    "He''s cornered," Alyssa shouted over the noise, her gun firing in quick, calcted bursts. "But we''re pinned down!"


    Dominic gritted his teeth. They didn''t have time to be cautious if Kusov got through that tunnel, it would all be for nothing.


    He signaled to Alyssa, pointing to the side of the room. "nk him. I''ll draw their fire."


    Without waiting for a reply, Dominic bolted from cover, firing at Kusov and his men. The mercenaries returned fire, their focus shifting to Dominic, giving Alyssa the opening she needed. She moved swiftly, slipping around the side of the room and positioning herself behind the guards.


    In one fluid motion, she took down the first mercenary with a clean shot to the head. The second turned in surprise, but she was faster, dispatching him before he could react.


    Now it was just Kusov.


    Dominic stood, his gun trained on the Russian crime lord, whose back was now against the metal door. Kusov''s eyes were wild, his grip on his pistol unsteady.


    "It''s over," Dominic said, his voice steady butced with anger. "You''ve lost."


    Kusov''s lips curled into a sneer. "You think you''ve won, Dominic? You think you''ve defeated me? I am not a man who loses."


    Dominic took a step closer, his finger hovering over the trigger. "Your empire is gone. All your power, your money it''s all over. There''s nowhere left to run."


    Kusov''s eyes shed with defiance, but deep down, Dominic could see the fear. For the first time, the man who had been untouchable, invincible, was vulnerable.


    "You don''t understand, do you?" Kusov said, his voice shaking with rage. "Men like me... we never truly lose. Kill me, and another will take my ce. This world belongs to the powerful the ruthless."


    Alyssa, her gun still raised, stepped closer. "Not anymore."


    Kusov''s eyes flicked between them, his hand tightening on his pistol. But he wasn''t fast enough.


    Dominic fired.


    The bullet struck Kusov in the chest, and he staggered back, mming against the metal door before sliding to the ground. His breath came in ragged gasps as he clutched at the wound, blood pooling beneath him.


    He looked up at Dominic, his voice barely a whisper. "You... you think this changes anything?"


    Dominic stared down at him, the weight of everything finally catching up. "No. But it ends here."


    Kusov''s eyes closed, his body slumping against the door. The reign of terror, the endless pursuit—it was over.


    The sound of the copsing mansion above them brought Dominic back to reality. He turned to Alyssa, who nodded.


    "We need to get out of here."


    Together, they turned and sprinted back through the tunnel, leaving Kusov behind. As they emerged from the cer into the cold night air, the mansion copsed in on itself, a cloud of dust and smoke rising into the sky.


    Dominic looked at Alyssa, both of them breathing heavily. It was done. After everything they had been through, Kusov was dead, and his empire was in ruins.


    But there was no celebration, no sense of victory just relief.


    "We did it," Alyssa said quietly.


    Dominic nodded, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "Yeah. We did."


    The night was still, the echoes of their battle fading into the distance. But in that silence, there was a new beginning a world no longer under Kusov''s shadow.


    For the first time in a long time, Dominic allowed himself to believe it was finally over.