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“How long have you known about this?” Declan’s voice was a low, dangerous rumble in the damp, enclosed air of the hidden corridor. / Chapter 4 / 10

Chapter 4 - The Game of Shadows“The clock is ticking,” Nora said, glancing down at the tactical watch strapped to her wrist. 11:42 PM. Eighteen minutes until midnight. Eighteen minutes until Liam Foley expected to watch Gallagher House turn into a crematorium.

Declan rolled his shoulders, the adrenaline pumping hot and fast through his veins. The shock of betrayal had burned away, replaced by a cold, surgical fury.

“If we go back out there through the main corridor, Liam’s guards will spot us on the thermal cameras,” Declan noted, his mind instantly shifting back to tactical command mode.

“We aren’t going back out there,” Nora replied, tapping a sequence on her laptop. “We are going up. The service dumbwaiter shaft leads directly to the wall panel behind your desk. Liam left the study door locked from the inside, but he didn’t secure the historical ventilation intake.”

Declan raised an eyebrow. “You expect me to crawl through a dust chute in a three-thousand-dollar tuxedo?”

“Unless you prefer the alternative of being scattered across three square blocks of the North Side, yes,” she shot back, grabbing the first weapon from the canvas bag and tossing it cleanly into his hands.

Declan caught the HK MP5 with effortless reflexes. The weight of the steel felt right. For years, he had sat at the top of the Chicago underworld, growing soft behind mahogany desks and champagne galas, delegating the dirty work to lieutenants like Liam. Tonight, the illusion of retirement was shattered. Tonight, the boss was back in the field.

“What’s your play for the four men waiting in the library?” Declan asked, checking the magazine clip.

“They’re professionals hired through an intermediary,” Nora said, her fingers flying across the laptop keyboard as she initiated a system override on the mansion’s internal security grid. “They aren’t loyal to Liam; they’re loyal to a wire transfer. The moment we lock down the internal communication relays and cut the power to the east wing, they’ll be blind in their own sector.”

“And Liam?”

“Liam is waiting for the fireworks,” Nora whispered, a dangerous glint appearing in her eyes. “Let’s give him a preview.”

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He Moved His Mistress Into the Beach House I Bought His Parents—So I Sol...

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With a sharp click, Nora punched a final command into her laptop.

Across the entire three-story mansion, every single light suddenly flickered, hissed, and died.

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