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The air in the Peninsula Hotel ballroom didn't just turn cold—it shattered. Three hundred of Chicago’s most powerful elite froze in place. The faint clinking of crystal glasses ceased entirely. The flash of camera bulbs, which had been steady all night, paused in a collective gasp before erupting into a frenzy of aggressive white light. / Chapter 6 / 9

Chapter 6 - SHADOWS OF THE PAST

"IF I CAN'T HAVE HER, NO ONE WILL!" Derek shrieked.

He slammed his thumb down on the red button.

A violent explosion ripped through the upper rafters of the old warehouse. Iron beams tore apart, sending tonnes of burning debris, concrete, and heavy machinery raining down onto the ground floor.

"GET HER OUT!" Victor roared, shoving Lena violently forward into the arms of his chief bodyguard just as a massive steel girder crashed down directly where they had been standing.

The shockwave blew the heavy doors shut, trapping Victor inside as a secondary blast rocked the foundation, swallowing the back half of the building in a wall of roaring orange flame!

"VICTOR!" Lena screamed, tearing herself free from the guard's grip.

"Miss Marlo, no! It's too unstable!" the guard yelled, grabbing her arm as black smoke poured from the shattered windows.

"Let me go!" Lena fought wildly, her heart pounding in horror. She couldn't let him die—not after he had saved her, not after she had finally realized why he was doing all of this.

Driven by pure desperation, Lena grabbed a heavy flashlight from the tactical vehicle and sprinted back into the burning building through a side ventilation entrance.

The heat inside was unbearable. Smoke thick as pitch filled her lungs, making her cough violently. Flames licked at the walls, illuminating the destruction.

"Victor!" she coughed, shielding her face from the intense heat. "VICTOR!"

Through the haze of smoke, she saw him.

Victor was pinned beneath a heavy wooden beam, his leg trapped, his face covered in soot and blood. A few feet away, Derek lay motionless, knocked unconscious by the blast, surrounded by fire.

Lena rushed to Victor’s side, dropping to her knees and using all her strength to wedge the flashlight and an iron bar under the burning beam.

"Lena... leave," Victor rasped, his voice weak as he tried to push her away. "The structure is collapsing..."

"Shut up!" Lena shouted, tears streaming down her face as she hoisted the bar with everything she had. "You don't get to kiss me in front of three hundred people and then die in a pile of ash! Lift your leg!"

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The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the freezing slate beneath my spine. The blinding white vortex of snow kicked up by the downdraft burned my eyes, but I forced my lids open, locking my gaze onto the amber visor of the rescue specialist dropping out of the sky.

The screech of the chopper’s rotor blades vibrated directly through the...

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking against the pristine hospital linoleum. He reached for the tray table, his fingers brushing the edge of the papers. His voice was low, coated in a practiced, corporate calm that made my stomach churn worse than the spiked blood pressure.

Daniel stepped toward the bed, his polished leather shoes squeaking agai...

The silence in the dining room stretched thin, heavy enough to slice with a butter knife. Robert, Michael’s father, adjusted his napkin, completely oblivious to the silent war being fought across the porcelain plates.

The silence in the dining room stretched thin, heavy enough to slice wit...

With a agonizing gasp of effort, Victor hauled his trapped leg out as Lena lifted the beam just enough.

Together, leaning on each other, they staggered toward the emergency side exit as the roof finally gave way, burying the entire center of the warehouse—and Derek Hail—in an avalanche of fire and twisted steel.

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