Chapter 14 - The Shipyard Trap
"Security! Get him!" Julian choked out, thrashing against Gabriel’s iron grip.
Five men in the crowd—cartel assassins disguised as guests—drew concealed weapons. But Gabriel’s syndicate was faster. Dante, Silas, and a dozen of Gabriel’s operatives drew their weapons simultaneously, creating a heavily armed perimeter around Gabriel, Elena, and Julian.
The guests screamed and scrambled for the doors, fleeing the ballroom until only the combatants remained.
"Drop it!" Dante barked at the cartel men, his assault rifle leveled at their leader.
The cartel assassins, realizing they were outgunned and outmaneuvered, slowly lowered their weapons.
Gabriel pulled Julian up by his lapels, dragging him to his feet. Julian was bleeding from a cut on his forehead, his pristine tuxedo ruined.
"The police are coming!" Julian spat, panic wild in his eyes. "You’re going to spend the rest of your life in a cell, Thorne!"
"The police are outside," Gabriel corrected calmly. "They were anonymously tipped off to a cartel money-laundering operation happening at this exact location. Your files, Julian, have already been securely transmitted to the District Attorney's office. Your empire is gone."
Julian looked at Elena, his eyes wide with desperate terror. "Elena, please! I’m your husband! I took care of you!"
"You killed my father," Elena said, stepping forward. Her voice was like ice. "You beat me. You kept me in a cage. But you forgot one thing, Julian. I am Thomas Sterling's daughter. And I always finish what he started."
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Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder.
"Take him to the shipyard," Gabriel ordered Dante, tossing Julian to the floor. "We have an unfinished meeting."
