CHAPTER 4: The Safehouse Confrontation — Blood Against Blood
"Don't touch them," Robert said, stepping in front of Catherine and Emma, his body acting as a human shield. "You want the company, James? It's yours. Take it. Just let them go."
James laughed, a harsh, dry sound that was swallowed by the storm. "Oh, Robert. You always were the soft one. The romantic. Father saw it, too. That's why he left the empire to you, while I was cast aside. But look at you now. Kneeling in the dirt, begging for the lives of a beggar girl and a ghost."
James nodded to Marcus. "Bring them. We’re going to the safehouse. Let's sign the papers in comfort."
Twenty minutes later, they were inside a secluded, high-security cabin overlooking the Hudson River—a property Robert didn't even know existed, though it was registered under a Stellar Retreats subsidiary.
The interior was warm, a fire crackling in a stone fireplace. On a mahogany desk in the center of the room sat a laptop and a stack of legal documents.
Marcus kept his gun trained on Catherine and Emma, who were forced to sit on a leather sofa in the corner. Robert was pushed toward the desk.
"Sign the digital transfer of power, Robert," James ordered, leaning against the mantelpiece. "Once the board receives your digital signature and the video confirmation, the Blackwood Trust will be fully dissolved. I will finally have what is mine."
Robert looked at the documents on the screen. It was a complete surrender of all assets, stocks, and intellectual properties of Stellar Retreats.
"If I sign this, you'll kill us anyway," Robert said quietly, looking up at his twin. "You can't leave witnesses. Not after what you've done."
"You're right," James said, his smile vanishing into a cold, reptilian stare. "But if you sign, I promise Emma will have a quick, painless end. If you don't... well, Marcus is very creative with his methods."
Robert’s hands shook. He looked over at Catherine. Her face was pale, but her eyes weren't filled with fear anymore. They were locked onto his.
She gave him a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
Robert looked down at the keyboard. His fingers hovered over the keys.
The blue diamond ring.
He looked at the ring on his finger, then at the ring around Catherine’s neck. He remembered his father's words when he gave them the rings: "A Blackwood always protects his own. No matter the cost."
"James," Robert said slowly, pretending to type. "Do you remember the night the yacht sank? Twenty-five years ago?"
"I try not to think about failures," James sneered.
"You didn't drown because I saved you," Robert said, his voice thick with emotion. "I pulled you onto that wooden plank. I gave you my life jacket. I almost died of hypothermia waiting for the rescue boats. I loved you, James."
"And that was your first mistake," James cold-heartedly replied. "Love makes you weak."
"No," Catherine suddenly spoke up, her voice steady and ringing clear through the cabin. "Love makes you smart."
She looked at James, a brilliant, triumphant smile breaking across her face.
"Did you really think I didn't know you were tracking the rings, James?" Catherine asked. "Why do you think I let Emma go to Adagio tonight? Why do you think I kept my ring in a lead-lined box for five years, only to take it out tonight?"
James’s smile faltered. "What are you talking about?"
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"I knew you were watching Robert’s every move," Catherine said, standing up, ignoring Marcus’s gun. "I knew the moment he found Emma, he would come to me. And I knew you would follow his ring’s GPS. I wanted you here, James. In this cabin."
Suddenly, the lights in the cabin flickered and went out, plunging the room into absolute darkness.
