Chapter 8 - The Shadow at the Window
Adrian reached out with a trembling finger, gently brushing the back of his knuckle against his daughter’s soft cheek. The baby stirred, letting out a soft sigh that sounded like a quiet forgiveness of the world she had just entered.
“Her name is Rose,” Ariana said softly, standing beside him now, her own hand resting lightly on the edge of the bassinet. “After the engraving on the bracelet.”
“Rose,” Adrian repeated, the name tasting like sweet redemption on his tongue. He looked up at Ariana, tears streaming down his face unchecked. “Can you ever forgive me, Ariana? Can you give me a second chance to be the husband and father you and Rose deserve?”
Before Ariana could answer, a sharp, metallic sound shattered the stillness of the cabin.
Clack.
Adrian’s survival instincts—honed by years in the cutthroat corporate world and private security oversight—flared instantly. He pushed Ariana behind him, throwing himself between her and the window just as a heavy brick wrapped in a note smashed through the glass pane, scattering shards across the wooden floor.
Adrian leaped to his feet, rushing to the shattered window and shoving it open.
Outside, the tail lights of a black luxury SUV disappeared down the winding timber trail through the heavy snowfall.
“Who was that?” Ariana gasped, pulling Rose’s bassinet away from the window as Julian burst through the front cabin door with a hunting rifle in his hands, his face grim.
“Trouble,” Julian said, looking down at the heavy brick on the floor. Wrapped around it was a piece of expensive embossed stationery bearing a familiar crest.
May you like
Adrian untied the note and unfolded it. The typed message sent a spike of pure ice through his veins:
You thought you could walk away from a Harrington merger, Adrian? If you don’t sign over your shipping shares by midnight tomorrow, your precious little family in the woods won’t survive the storm.
