Chapter 2 - The Lion's Judgment
Julian let out a choked, wet gasp as Elias stepped forward, effortlessly lifting the grown man four inches off the hardwood floor by his neck.
Julian’s two enforcers reached frantically for their waistbands, but they never cleared leather. In the span of a single heartbeat, four red laser dots appeared squarely between their eyes from the shadows of the corridor. Marco stepped out with a suppressed tactical pistol, pressing the cold barrel directly beneath the lead enforcer's ear.
"Draw that iron," Marco whispered with a pleasant smile, "and your brains will decorate this elevator lobby before your hammer falls."
Both enforcers immediately raised their hands, dropping their weapons onto the carpet with trembling thuds.
Elias walked Julian backward down the hallway, slamming him against the concrete pillar beside the elevator bank. Julian’s face turned an ugly, mottled shade of purple. His legs kicked uselessly against the wall, his polished dress shoes scuffing the paint as he clawed at Elias’s iron fingers.
"You called them a curse," Elias said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, quiet whisper that echoed through the empty corridor.
"V-Vance... please..." Julian wheezed, his eyes bulging with horror. "It’s... family business... you don't understand—"
"I understand arithmetic very well, Julian," Elias said smoothly, leaning in until their noses were inches apart. "Four million dollars in defaulted freight debt. That was business. I would have taken your warehouse and let you live in a trailer in New Jersey. But three nights ago, I pulled a woman and two newborn infants from beneath a freezing concrete bridge while the temperature was fourteen degrees."
Elias leaned in closer, his gray eyes flashing with an ancient, untamed fury.
"Their skin was gray, Julian. Their mother was using her own body as a human shield against the freezing wind, taking the cold until her internal organs nearly failed. She had boot marks across her spine that matched the tread of your designer loafers."
"She gave me girls!" Julian screamed in desperate defiance, blood flecking his lips. "I needed a boy to take over the docks! Girls are worthless in our trade! She disgraced my name!"
Elias’s expression did not change, but a sickening crack shattered the air as he squeezed Julian’s windpipe just enough to fracture the cartilage. Julian shrieked in agony, tears and drool pouring down his chin.
"My mother was the only reason the Vance family survived the syndicate wars of ninety-eight," Elias murmured with chilling reverence. "A woman built this empire while men like you were hiding in basements. You are not a boss, Julian. You are a rabid dog that needs to be put down."
Elias tossed Julian onto the floor like a sack of spoiled flour. Julian curled into a fetal position, gasping for air, clutching his shattered throat.
"Marco," Elias instructed, turning his back on the pathetic creature on the carpet. "Take these two hired guns and throw them into the harbor. Let them swim back to Brooklyn. As for Julian... take his phone. Lock him in the basement holding cell beneath the warehouse on 14th Street. Do not feed him. Do not give him water. Let him sit in the dark and wonder when the cold will reach his bones."
"What about his associates on the waterfront, Boss?" Marco asked, kicking Julian’s ribs with professional detachment.
"Call our port captains," Elias said, unbuttoning his cuffs and rolling back his sleeves. "By sunrise, Julian Miller does not own a single crate, a single crane, or a single square inch of concrete in New York. If anyone asks why, tell them Elias Vance has claimed his debts."
Elias turned back into the penthouse, closing the heavy doors behind him and throwing the double deadbolts.
I was trembling in the bed, clutching the duvet to my chest, my breath hitching as he walked back toward me. I had seen what Julian was capable of, but this man... this man wielded power like a god of war.
Elias stopped at the foot of my bed. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a clean linen handkerchief, and calmly wiped Julian’s saliva from his fingers.
Then he looked at me. The lethal storm in his eyes had vanished completely, replaced by an unsettling, profound gentleness.
"Are the girls asleep?" he asked softly.
May you like
I swallowed hard, nodding through a blur of hot tears. "Yes."
"Good," Elias said, sitting on the leather armchair beside my bed. "Rest, Ava. The monsters can't reach you here."
