Chapter 7 - The Trap at Dawn
“You won’t shoot,” Emma spoke up suddenly, her voice ringing clear and steady through the tension-filled room.
Julian glanced at her, annoyed. “Shut up, girl. You don’t know who you’re talking to.”
“I know exactly who you are,” Emma said, slowly standing up while keeping Sophie behind her back. “You’re an embezzler who needs this drive because you know the federal authorities already have mirror copies of the shell company registrations. If Adrian dies here, the board doesn't just hand you the company—they lock down every asset until a homicide investigation concludes. You can’t touch a single dollar if this room becomes a crime scene.”
Julian’s eyes twitched with irritation. “You think you’re smart for a girl who wipes tables for eight dollars an hour?”
“I survived seven different foster homes with men meaner and desperate than you,” Emma replied, not backing down an inch. “You’re sweating, Julian. Your hands are shaking. You didn't plan for this drive to be found. You planned on a clean corporate takeover, and now you’re standing in a bedroom holding a gun because you know you’re about to go to prison.”
Her words bought precisely three seconds of distraction.
It was all Adrian needed.
With the speed of a striking viper, Adrian lunged forward, his left hand swatting Julian’s gun arm upward while his right elbow drove into Julian’s ribs with crushing force. A gunshot exploded, shattering the plaster ceiling above them and showering the room in white dust.
Sophie screamed, but Emma had already snatched the girl up and shoved her behind the heavy mahogany armoire, shielding her with her own body.
Julian groaned as Adrian slammed him against the wall, disarming him with a brutal wrist lock. The gun skittered across the floor, sliding directly to Emma’s feet. Without hesitating, Emma kicked the weapon under the bed, out of reach.
The two private guards lunged forward to tackle Adrian, but before they could close the distance, the heavy footsteps of boots shook the hallway.
“Hands where I can see them!” Marcus’s booming voice thundered through the doorway. The towering head of security entered, flanked by four armed building officers. In an instant, the two hired guards were pinned against the hardwood floor, their wrists cuffed behind their backs.
Adrian pinned Julian to the carpet, his knee planted firmly between his cousin’s shoulder blades.
“You made one critical mistake, Julian,” Adrian whispered into the man’s ear, his voice freezing cold. “You thought I came back here alone. Marcus had the building’s silent alarm tripped the second your unauthorized escort stepped into the lobby.”
Julian spat blood onto the floor, glaring with pure hatred. “It doesn’t matter! The board votes in two hours! You won’t make it to headquarters in this storm!”
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Adrian stood up, brushing the white plaster dust from his sweater, and picked up the tiny silver locket from the dresser.
“I won't need to,” Adrian said coldly. “Marcus, call the U.S. Attorney. Tell them we have the encrypted ledger they’ve been waiting for.”
