Chapter 6 - Bloodlines and Betrayal
My blood ran like liquid ice. I slid out of bed without waking Sloan, grabbing my encrypted phone as I walked out into the corridor. I dialed Marco’s secondary number. Three agonizing rings passed before a raspy voice answered.
“Vincent...” Marco coughed, the sound of distant sirens wailing in the background. “It was a trap. We found the rat. It was Dominic... your cousin. He gave Matteo the elevator codes.”
Dominic. My own blood relative. The man I had raised like a younger brother after his father died. Greed and ambition had poisoned him.
“Are you alive?” I asked, my tone deadly quiet.
“Shrapnel in my leg, burns on my arm, but I’m breathin’,” Marco grunted. “Dominic sold out the entire western perimeter. Matteo has mobilized twenty hitmen. They aren't waiting for tonight, Vincent. They are coming to the penthouse NOW.”
Before Marco could finish his sentence, the power to the penthouse abruptly cut off. The floor-to-ceiling windows lost their warm tint as the emergency backup generators hummed to life with a low vibration. The private elevator chimed downstairs—someone had overridden the security grid.
I rushed back into the master bedroom. Sloan was already awake, sitting up with wide, terrified eyes as the red emergency lights flickered on.
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“Vincent? What’s happening?”
“They’re here,” I said, moving with practiced, military speed. I opened the hidden vault behind the closet mirror, pulling out two tactical handguns and a bulletproof vest. I handed her a small, lightweight concealed pistol.
