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The ink on the medical schedule wasn't standard printer black. It was darker, heavier, pressed down with the kind of deliberate malice that only a fountain pen could deliver. I stared at the signature at the bottom of the page, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. / Chapter 7 / 20

Chapter 7 - The Hidden Switch

“Clara, take Amara and get behind the medical console,” Roman commanded in a low, lightning-fast whisper.

Before Dante could pull the trigger, Roman slammed his palm down on a brass floor button hidden beneath the hospital bed frame—an emergency lockdown protocol built into the estate's panic rooms decades ago.

CLANG!

Heavy steel shutters dropped instantly over every window and door in the medical suite, blocking out the hallway and trapping everyone inside. Gunfire erupted instantly, bullets shattering glass partitions and splintering mahogany furniture.

I grabbed Amara, throwing us both to the floor behind the heavy lead-lined medical console as bullets buzzed overhead like angry hornets.

“Dante! Secure the manual override!” Elena screamed over the deafening roar of gunfire.

“The steel is military-grade titanium alloy!” Roman shouted back, ripping his oxygen mask off and rolling off the bed with surprising agility, drawing a hidden backup Glock from beneath the mattress. “You can't shoot your way out of this room!”

In the confined space, chaos exploded. Dante’s guards fired wildly at the steel shutters while Roman returned fire with ruthless, calculated precision. Two of Dante’s men dropped instantly, their weapons clattering against the tile floor.

“Clara! Listen to me!” Roman yelled over the gunfire, crawling toward our position behind the console. Blood was seeping through his white shirt from the exertion, but his eyes were blazing.

“Mr. Valente, I—”

“There is a ventilation tunnel behind the sliding supply cabinet,” Roman interrupted, shoving a heavy set of brass keys into my hand. “It leads directly to the old drainage tunnels outside the estate perimeter. Take Amara and run. Do not stop until you reach the highway.”

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The burner phone in my hand felt heavy, like a slab of cold iron pulled from a sunken ship. Across the line, Marcus let out a breath that sounded like a low whistle escaping a pressure valve. Nineteen years of rust, nineteen years of school plays, quiet dinners, and ledger sheets—all of it dissolved in the space of a single heartbeat.

The burner phone in my hand felt heavy, like a slab of cold iron pulled...

The man in the back of the Bentley was not a stranger, though it took me three agonizing seconds to place the face behind the silver-trimmed beard. Arthur Vance. The reclusive billionaire shipping tycoon, corporate sniper, and my father’s oldest, most estranged rival.

The man in the back of the Bentley was not a stranger, though it took me...

The kitchen was so quiet you could hear the distant murmur of the jazz trio outside, playing as if the world hadn't just tilted on its axis. Grant stared at the single sheet of thick parchment resting against the cold Italian marble. His breath caught, a shallow, ragged hitch that gave away his panic before his voice ever could.

The kitchen was so quiet you could hear the distant murmur of the jazz t...

“I’m not leaving you here to die!” I shouted back.

“If you stay, you both die for nothing,” Roman snarled, grabbing my shoulders with an iron grip. “If you escape, you take that medical schedule straight to Captain Miller at the 14th District. He’s the only federal handler I have left who isn't on Dante's payroll. It’s our only leverage left.”

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