Chapter 6 - The Viper in the Nest
I sprinted up the stairs from the basement, racking the slide of my Sig Sauer.
"Elena!" I roared, my voice echoing through the massive, empty halls of the safehouse.
The emergency backup lights were flashing. The primary power grid had been cut. I moved silently through the shadows, my heart hammering against my ribs.
When I reached the master suite, the heavy oak door was ajar.
I pushed it open with the barrel of my gun.
Marcus was standing by the reinforced crib. In one hand, he held a suppressed pistol aimed directly at Elena, who was standing fiercely between him and the sleeping twins. In his other hand, he held a tactical radio.
"Drop it, Julian," Marcus said smoothly, not even turning his head to look at me. "Or I put a bullet in her spine."
"You sold us out," I said, keeping my weapon raised, aiming squarely at the back of his skull. "Ten years, Marcus. I made you a millionaire. I made you family."
"You made me a servant!" Marcus spat, his composure finally cracking. "You sit in your glass towers making billions while I clean up the blood! Sterling offered me a seat on his board. He offered me equity. Real power."
"Sterling is currently filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy," I stated coldly. "Check your phone, Marcus. You backed a dead horse."
Marcus hesitated. For a fraction of a second, his eyes darted away from Elena.
It was all the opening she needed.
Elena, the woman who had spent months terrified and running, proved exactly why she was the mother of my children. She didn't cower. She lunged forward, grabbing the heavy, brass lamp from the bedside table and swinging it with all her might directly into Marcus’s face.
The brass connected with a sickening crunch. Marcus screamed, his gun firing wildly into the ceiling as he stumbled backward.
I didn't hesitate. I stepped forward and drove the butt of my pistol into his temple, sending him crashing to the floor, unconscious before he even hit the carpet.
I immediately pulled Elena into my arms, my hands shaking as I held her tight. "Are you hit? Are the babies okay?"
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"We're fine," she gasped, her arms wrapping tightly around my neck. "I told you, Julian. I'm not fragile."
I looked down at the traitor bleeding on my floor, then back to my wife. "No," I breathed, kissing her forehead. "You are the strongest person I have ever known."
