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The interior of the MTA bus spun into a nauseating kaleidoscope of red taillights, glaring fluorescent bulbs, and terrified faces. Claire’s vision tunneled as another vicious wave of contractions ripped through her abdomen, tearing a raw, breathless sob from her throat. She was sinking sideways onto the rubber-matted floor, her soaked coat offering zero protection against the freezing draft sweeping through the doors. / Chapter 13 / 20

Chapter 13 - The Alliance in the Shadows

Deep within the subterranean levels of a members-only club in downtown Manhattan, a very different kind of conversation was taking place. A man in an expensive, ill-fitting suit sat nervously across a mahogany table from Victoria Vance—Julian’s estranged, fiercely ambitious cousin who had been cut out of the family empire years prior.

"So, Ethan Mercer is completely finished," Victoria stated, swirling amber scotch in her crystal glass. "And Julian has handed the keys of the real estate division to a woman who didn't even have a bank account six months ago."

The man, a disgruntled former board member of Mercer Development named Henderson, leaned forward eagerly. "She’s running the whole show, Victoria. And Julian is backing her with the full liquidity of Vance Holdings. If we don’t strike now, they will monopolize the entire Manhattan commercial real estate market by next spring."

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My hand froze inches from the cold steel of the Sig Sauer P226. Beneath the amber glow of the bedside lamp, the source of the warmth against my side wasn't an assassin, an operative from a rival syndicate, or a traitorous lieutenant.

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The silence in the master bedroom stretched so tight I could hear the slow, heavy drip of my own pulse in my ears. Dominic Rossi’s dark eyes locked onto mine, burning with a feverish intensity that should have sent me running back down the hallway and out into the rain

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Victoria’s eyes narrowed into calculating slits. She hated Julian with every fiber of her being; he had humiliated her publicly, stripping her of her board seat and banishing her to European subsidiaries. Claire was just a convenient proxy for Julian’s dominance.

"Let them think they've won," Victoria murmured, a wicked smile spreading across her lips. "Power makes people arrogant. And arrogance is always vulnerable to a well-placed knife."

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