Chapter 6 - THE PENTHOUSE SANCTUARYThe Sovereign penthouse occupied the entire top floor, offering a panoramic view of the glittering New York skyline through floor-to-ceiling glass walls. But inside, the atmosphere was thick with tension.
A team of private trauma medics—men trained in covert combat medicine rather than sterile hospital protocols—were already assembled in the expansive master sitting room, their medical kits open beside a makeshift operating table covered in sterile blue drapes.
Rosie sat on the edge of a velvet sofa, wrapped in a warm cashmere blanket, refusing to let the medics touch her until they had stabilized Brutus.
"Easy, boy. Easy," Rosie whispered, stroking the mastiff’s scarred head as the lead medic, a scarred veteran named Doc, sliced away the matted fur around the dog's neck to clean the infected chain wounds.
Ezra stood by the window, watching his daughter with a gaze full of fierce, burning protectiveness. For six months, he had torn the underworld apart looking for her, believing she had been taken by rival syndicates in Boston or Chicago. He never expected she had been hiding in the abandoned industrial tunnels beneath the East River, surviving off scraps and guarding the dog that carried the family's darkest secret.
"Doc," Ezra called out quietly without turning around. "Will the animal survive?"
Doc wiped his bloody hands on a towel, shaking his head slightly. "It’s touch and go, boss. He’s malnourished, dehydrated, and suffering from heavy metal toxicity from those chains. But... he’s got the stubbornest heart I’ve ever seen in a dog. He wants to protect her."
Rosie looked up from the sofa, her dark eyes flashing with a sudden, fierce intensity that reminded Ezra terrifyingly of his late mother.
"They put him there," Rosie said, her small voice cutting through the quiet room. "The men in the black suits. The ones who visit Uncle Marcus's estate."
Ezra froze.
May you like
Uncle Marcus.
Marcus Vance—Ezra’s cousin, founding partner of Valente Holdings, and the man who had sat by Ezra’s side every single day mourning Colette’s death eight years ago.
