Chapter 7 - The Betrayal
The panic room in Sub-level 1 was dead silent, insulated by two feet of solid steel and reinforced tungsten. The security monitors on the wall displayed live video feeds from the compound's corridors. Gemma sat glued to the screens, watching in horror as intense, bloody firefights broke out across the lower levels.
Nikolai moved across the camera feeds like a phantom. He was ruthless, precise, and completely unmatched in combat. Every shot he fired found its mark, systematically cutting down Dmitri’s strike team one by one with chilling efficiency. Within thirty minutes, the gunfire began to dwindle. The mercenary assault was faltering under the sheer brutality of Rostov’s counterattack.
Relief washed over Gemma. She wiped away her tears, leaning back against the leather bench. Nikolai was alive. He had held the line.
Suddenly, the electronic access keypad beside the safe room door chimed green.
The heavy vault door hissed and swung open. Gemma sprang to her feet, expecting to see Nikolai. Instead, Marcus stepped into the room, his tactical rifle lowered, his face pale and sweating profusely under the halogen lights. Behind him stood three men wearing unmarked black uniforms, their weapons raised directly at Gemma’s chest.
""Marcus?"" Gemma stepped back, her stomach dropping into an abyss of cold dread. ""What is this? Where is Nikolai?""
""The Boss is clearing the lower docks,"" Marcus said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion. ""He thinks he won. But he doesn't understand that Dmitri didn't send forty mercenaries to take the compound. He sent forty mercenaries to create a distraction so we could secure the real prize.""
""You... you betrayed him?"" Gemma gasped, horrified. ""He trusted you with his life!""
""Loyalty doesn't pay a twenty-million-pound bounty, Miss Vance,"" Marcus sneered, pulling a zip-tie from his belt. ""Nikolai became weak the moment he brought a common florist into this house. He spent twenty million pounds building gardens and moving Russian grandmothers across Europe while Dmitri was buying up politicians and shipping routes in London. Nikolai forgot that this business is built on blood, not poetry.""
""He will hunt you to the ends of the earth,"" Gemma snarled, backing against the steel wall, her eyes flashing with a sudden, fierce courage she hadn't known she possessed. ""You saw him out there. He isn't human when he fights. He will tear you apart with his bare hands.""
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""He won't lay a finger on me,"" Marcus laughed coldly, grabbing her wrist and roughly binding her hands behind her back. ""Because you are coming with us to London. Dmitri is hosting the Syndicate Summit at midnight at the Savoy. All seven families will be there to ratify his ascension. And you, sweet Gemma, will be the centerpiece on his table—the final leverage that forces Nikolai Rostov to drop his gun and kneel for his execution.""
Before Gemma could scream, a mercenary pressed a chloroform-soaked cloth over her nose and mouth. The world spun into darkness, the scent of chemicals drowning out the faint, lingering memory of cedar and smoke.
