Chapter 8 - The Price of Disobedience
The peace lasted less than twelve hours.
By midday, the encrypted network at the penthouse went dark. A massive cyberattack had disabled the security perimeter of the Vane properties. Moments later, my personal cell phone rang with a video call from an unknown number.
I tapped the screen, and my stomach plummeted into an icy, bottomless abyss.
On the screen was my mother, tied to a wooden chair inside the kitchen of her own apartment. Standing behind her, holding a silver revolver against her temple, was Antonio Lucenti himself—a young, sharp-featured man with cold, reptile eyes and a scarred smile.
"Good afternoon, Miss Brooks," Antonio said smoothly. "Or should I say, Dominic’s little audit clerk?"
"Let her go!" I screamed, dropping my glass to the floor. "She has nothing to do with this!"
"She has everything to do with this, because she is the leverage that brings Dominic to his knees," Antonio sneered. "Tell your handsome boss that if he wants to see Mrs. Brooks draw another breath, he will come to the Wacker Drive shipping warehouse alone. No guards. No police. Just Dominic Vane and the master security codes to the harbor docks. You have sixty minutes. If I see a single flashing siren, your mother gets a bullet through her skull."
The call disconnected.
Dominic was at my side instantly, grabbing my shoulders as my legs gave out. "Nadia! Look at me!"
"They have my mother," I sobbed, clutching his lapels with trembling fingers. "He’s going to kill her, Dominic! He’s going to murder her because of me!"
"He will not touch her," Dominic promised, his voice turning into sheer, concentrated steel. "I swear it to you on my mother’s grave."
"He told you to come alone!"
"Antonio thinks like a savage, which means he expects me to react like a cornered animal," Dominic said, stepping toward his private armory behind the bookshelf. "Marco! Ready the secondary intercept team. We deploy the diversion at the south dock now."
"I am coming with you," I said, wiping the tears furiously from my face.
"No," Dominic barked, turning around with thunder in his eyes. "You stay in the vault. It is reinforced against heavy artillery."
"She is my mother!" I screamed, standing toe-to-toe with him, refusing to yield an inch. "You dragged me into your war, Dominic! You made me a target! You don't get to lock me in a closet while my family pays the price for your empire! Give me a vest, or I will take a taxi there myself!"
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Dominic stared at me, his jaw working as fury and profound admiration clashed behind his dark eyes. Finally, he exhaled a ragged breath, reached into the locker, and tossed a lightweight Kevlar vest toward me.
"Put it on," he commanded softly. "And stay behind me no matter what happens."
