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The heavy oak door of the master suite swung wider, letting out a sharp draft of chilled air that smelled faintly of expensive bourbon and cold rain. Lorenzo Moretti did not blink. / Chapter 17 / 30

Chapter 17 - High-Speed Vengeance

The salt spray stung Lorenzo’s eyes as the interceptor bounded over the crest of a ten-foot wave, slamming back down into the trough with a bone-rattling thud. Ahead of him, Julian’s black speedboat was cutting a violent, zigzagging path across the gray water, desperately trying to shake its pursuer before reaching international territory where the Moretti syndicate's reach legally fractured.

Through the salt-crusted windshield, Lorenzo could see the silhouette of Julian standing at the helm, holding a heavy-caliber pistol in one hand while steering with the other. Through the glass hatch of the cabin, a tiny, terrified face pressed against the window. Lily.

Not my daughter, Lorenzo thought, a dark, primal fury flooding his veins.

He pushed the throttles past their recommended redline. The supercharged engines shrieked in protest, burning fuel at an astronomical rate as the interceptor surged forward, closing the gap between the two vessels from half a mile to three hundred yards, then two hundred, then fifty.

Julian glanced back over his shoulder, his face twisted in panic as he realized the sheer speed of Lorenzo’s custom-built war boat. Julian grabbed his pistol, spun around, and fired three rapid shots across the water.

Ping! Ping!

Bullets sparked off the armored fiberglass bow of Lorenzo’s boat, but they didn't even slow him down.

Lorenzo didn't aim for Julian. He aimed for the engine housing of the fleeing boat. He cranked the steering wheel hard to port, angling his heavy interceptor directly toward the rear quarter-panel of Julian's vessel.

"End of the line, cousin," Lorenzo whispered to himself.

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The pressurized air of the cabin suddenly felt thick, heavy, and suffocating. My lungs burned as I fought the urge to grab Julie by her linen collar and force the rest of the truth out of her right there at thirty thousand feet.

The pressurized air of the cabin suddenly felt thick, heavy, and suffoca...

The rain in the lower district did not fall; it drifted like smoke, slicking the asphalt and carrying the smell of coal smoke and rotting citrus from the wholesale market two blocks down.

The rain in the lower district did not fall; it drifted like smoke, slic...

The word mother hung in the sterile terminal air like a frozen dagger.

The word mother hung in the sterile terminal air like a frozen dagger.

With a deafening roar of grinding fiberglass and tearing metal, Lorenzo rammed his boat directly into the side of Julian’s speedboat. The impact was catastrophic. Julian’s boat spun violently out of control, flipping sideways and throwing Julian clean off the helm into the freezing sea.

The wrecked speedboat sputtered, choked on seawater, and came to an abrupt, smoking halt dead in the water.

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Chapter 18 - The Final Resolution
Chapter 19 - The Sanctuary
Chapter 20 - The Rising Sun
Chapter 21 - Echoes in the Stone Vaults
Chapter 22 - The Phantom in the East Wing
Chapter 23 - The Anatomy of a Trap

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