Chapter 4 - Blood and Brass
The air in the study grew suffocatingly thick. The four enforcers behind Graham raised their weapons, red laser sights painting a web of glowing dots across Declan's chest and shoulders.
"Drop the piece, Declan," Graham sneered, stepping closer. "Don't make this messy in front of your new niece."
Declan’s expression remained carved from granite. He slowly lowered the barrel of his pistol, his shoulders slumping just enough to project defeat. Graham’s eyes gleamed with triumphant arrogance—the fatal flaw of every man who thought he had finally outsmarted the Shaw patriarch.
"You always were arrogant, Graham," Declan murmured. "You forgot the golden rule of running an empire."
"What's that?" Graham laughed.
"Never trust a subordinate who cares more about the books than the blood."
With blinding, terrifying speed, Declan didn't aim at Graham—he spun to his left and fired two rounds straight through the antique mahogany desk. A hidden brass floor panel blasted open with a deafening bang. From beneath the floorboards, a heavy steel tactical lock disengaged with a metallic heavy thud.
Before Graham’s enforcers could react, the security override system across the estate chirped loudly. The massive smart-glass windows lining the study instantly turned pitch black, armored shutters sliding down with industrial force, trapping everyone inside a literal steel vault.
"Kill him!" Graham screamed, lunging forward.
Gunfire erupted, shattering crystal decanters, shredding priceless oil paintings, and riddling the bookshelves with lead. Declan rolled behind a marble pillar, returning fire with brutal, mechanical precision. Two of Graham’s enforcers dropped instantly, clutching their chests as they crashed onto the Persian rug.
Mia screamed, covering Penny’s ears as the room filled with the acrid stench of cordite and burning gunpowder.
Graham scrambled behind the overturned armchair, his face twisted in rage as he emptied his submachine gun into Declan's cover. "You paranoid bastard!" Graham roared over the gunfire. "You installed a panic room beneath the study?"
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"I install contingencies for every snake in my house," Declan’s cold voice echoed from behind the marble pillar.
The firing stopped as the heavy click of an empty magazine echoed from Graham's weapon. In the sudden, ringing silence, Declan stepped out from behind the pillar, his pistol locked firmly on Graham's forehead.
