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HE STEPPED OUT OF THE SHADOWS WITH A SMOKE IN HIS HAND AND SAID: "YOUR FATHER OWES ME A LIFE, LITTLE BIRD. BUT I THINK I’LL TAKE YOURS INSTEAD." / Chapter 5 / 10

Chapter 5 - A Monster’s Mercy

The warning Marco had given came to fruition three weeks later.

Elena had been granted permission to visit the clinic to see Arthur, who was supposedly recovering well. Lucian had insisted on sending three guards with her, a detail she had thought was excessive until the moment her town car stopped at a red light two blocks from the hospital.

A heavy black SUV rammed into the side of their vehicle with bone-crushing force.

Glass shattered everywhere. Elena screamed as the driver was instantly shot through the windshield. The rear door was ripped open, and two men wearing heavy tactical gear grabbed her, dragging her out into the cold rain.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, fighting with every ounce of her strength. She managed to pull her heavy dressmaking shears from her purse, driving the sharp point deep into the thigh of one of her attackers.

The man roared in pain, dropping her onto the wet asphalt. Before the second man could grab her, the sound of squealing tires tore through the street.

Lucian’s private sports car skidded to a halt.

He didn't wait for his men. Lucian stepped out of the vehicle, a heavy automatic weapon in his hand. His face was a mask of pure, demonic rage. He didn't shout warnings; he simply opened fire. Within three seconds, the two men who had touched her lay motionless in the street.

Lucian dropped the weapon and ran to her. He fell to his knees in the rain, gathering her into his arms with a desperate, frantic strength that shocked her. He pulled her against his chest, his hands running through her hair, checking her face, her arms, her hands for injuries.

"Elena... Elena, look at me," he commanded, his voice raw, shaking with an emotion she had never heard in him before. Fear. The most feared man in Chicago was terrified.

"I'm... I'm okay," she sobbed, clinging to his wet shirt. "I used the shears... I hurt one of them."

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Dr. Mercer looked down at the ultrasound monitor, her fingers moving with practiced ease over the trackball. The quiet hum of the machine filled the room, punctuated only by the rhythmic, heavy breathing of Dorian Cross standing near the door. He hadn't sat down once. His tall frame cast a long, imposing shadow across the sterile room, hand resting near the button of his suit jacket—a posture born of years of constant vigilance.

Dr. Mercer looked down at the ultrasound monitor, her fingers moving wit...

The ambulance siren wailed in the distance, a rising shriek that cut through the rainy night like a knife. I didn't wait for them. I held Arianne against my chest, feeling the terrifyingly erratic rhythm of her pulse, and bolted down the grand mahogany staircase.

The ambulance siren wailed in the distance, a rising shriek that cut thr...

The heavy cabin door hissed shut behind me, sealing in the scent of expensive cologne, manufactured corporate harmony, and betrayal. As I stepped back onto the sun-baked tarmac of the private aviation terminal, the stifling afternoon heat hit me like a physical blow. Behind the thick, tinted glass of the jet's windows, I could see Carter’s silhouette—his jaw set in that familiar, arrogant angle of a man who believed he had just successfully disciplined a disobedient pet.

The heavy cabin door hissed shut behind me, sealing in the scent of expe...

Lucian looked down at the bloody scissors still clutched in her hand, then back at her face. A dark, wild look of pride and absolute obsession filled his eyes. He leaned down, burying his face in her neck, breathing her in as if she were the only air left in the world.

"That's my girl," he whispered fiercely against her skin. "That's my brave little bird. Nobody touches you. Nobody."

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