Chapter 5 - Blood on the MarbleThe glass doors of the private foyer shattered inward in a cascade of glittering diamonds. Three men in tactical gear poured through the opening, silhouetted against the stormy night sky, their rifles sweeping the room with lethal efficiency.
Julian didn't wait for them to find cover.
Moving with a terrifying, calculated violence that belonged in a combat zone, he stepped out from the shadow of the bar. Two suppressed cracks split the air before the intruders could level their barrels. The lead assailant dropped instantly, a clean round through his visor.
The second man pivoted, firing a wild burst into the ceiling, but Julian was already closing the distance. A brutal elbow strike shattered the intruder's mask, followed by a sweep of the leg that sent the man crashing hard onto the Italian marble.
Maya watched from behind her pillar, her breath hitching in her throat. The man she had patched up days ago—the man who looked like an upscale Wall Street executive—was gone. In his place stood the Apex Predator of the Manhattan underworld, cold, merciless, and terrifyingly efficient.
The third intruder, realizing they had walked into a slaughterhouse, tried to retreat toward the elevator, but a fresh voice echoed from the stairwell.
"Drop the weapon, Croft! Or the girl dies."
Julian froze. From the service stairwell, a fourth man emerged, dragging a terrified-looking kitchen staff member by the collar, a pistol jammed hard against the worker's temple.
Julian slowly lowered his weapon, his posture relaxing into a deceptive, coiled spring. "Vance," Julian’s voice was velvet laced with glass. "I thought I cleared your crew out of Queens last month."
"You left loose ends, Julian," Vance sneered, stepping further into the light. "And now I'm going to take everything you value—starting with your little pet by the pillar."
Vance’s eyes darted toward Maya’s hiding spot.
Maya’s heart stopped. She looked down at the small pistol in her trembling hand. She remembered Julian’s words: If they get past me, aim for the center of mass.
May you like
She didn't wait for Julian to negotiate. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she stepped out from behind the pillar, raised the pistol with both hands, and squeezed the trigger.
Hook: The deafening roar of the gun shook the penthouse. The bullet caught Vance square in the shoulder, spinning him around and causing his gun to discharge harmlessly into the floor. Before Vance could recover, Julian was across the room, his bare hands closing around Vance’s throat with the finality of a guillotine.
