Chapter 4 - Betrayal in the ShadowsThe next morning, the snowstorm outside Vance Manor raged with blinding fury, turning the mountain landscape into a whiteout wasteland.
Inside the war room in the manor’s reinforced basement, glowing computer screens cast an eerie blue light over maps of New York City, security camera feeds, and satellite tracking data.
“Moretti’s network is moving faster than anticipated,” Marcus reported, tapping furiously on a glass tablet. “Bounty hunters have already cleared the outer perimeter checkpoints. We neutralized three teams on the western ridge an hour ago, but they’re probing for weaknesses.”
I stood near the corner, rocking one of my crying twins—Chloe—while her sister, Claire, slept soundly in the stroller nearby. My nerves were frayed to the breaking point. Every sound of howling wind outside sounded like approaching footsteps.
Elias stepped up behind me, gently placing a warm hand on my shoulder. His touch instantly grounded the frantic racing of my pulse.
“Feed them misinformation,” Elias ordered Marcus without taking his eyes off me. “Leak a false trail pointing toward our safehouse in Montreal. Make it look like we’re trying to cross the Canadian border tonight.”
“Understood, Boss,” Marcus replied, turning back to his terminals.
Suddenly, a loud, jarring chime echoed through the war room.
One of the secondary security monitors flickered to life. At the main iron gates of the estate, standing alone in the swirling blizzard, was a figure in a tailored grey suit.
My breath caught in my throat.
Even through the snowy camera feed, I recognized that posture. That cold, arrogant smirk.
“Victor,” I choked out, my fingers tightening instinctively around Chloe’s blanket.
Elias stepped closer to the screen, his eyes narrowing into slits of pure ice.
“He’s walking right into the lions' den alone,” Elias murmured thoughtfully. “Or... he thinks he brought enough teeth to tear the den down.”
“Boss,” Marcus interjected, checking a diagnostic panel on his console. “The internal thermal sensors just flagged something strange. Victor’s suit... it’s wired with a localized EMP and a biological dispersal unit. If he gets within fifty feet of the manor’s main generator, he can fry our entire security grid and release a neurotoxin into the ventilation system.”
The room went dead silent.
Victor hadn’t come to negotiate. He had come to finish the job himself as a suicide bomber for Moretti.
“He’s willing to die just to secure the girls’ biometric data,” I whispered in absolute disbelief. The man I had shared a bed with for three years, the man who had kissed my forehead when I came home from the hospital, was a monster wearing a human mask.
Elias pulled me gently behind him, placing his massive frame between me and the monitors.
“Marcus, lock down the inner vaults. Activate the heavy lead shutters on all windows,” Elias commanded smoothly. Then, he unholstered his Berettas, checking the safety switches with a calm, methodical click.
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“Elias, what are you going to do?” I asked, terror gripping my chest.
“I’m going to go welcome your husband back into our lives,” Elias replied, a terrifying smile playing on his lips. “Permanently.”
