Chapter 7 - BLOOD FOR BLOOD"You're old, Ghost," Marcus sneered, his hands shaking slightly. "You've been playing house for twenty years while I stayed in the trenches! You lost your edge!"
"Try me," I said quietly.
Marcus pulled the trigger.
I sidestepped, the bullet grazing my shoulder pad, and closed the distance instantly. I grabbed his gun wrist, drove my elbow into his collarbone, and tore the weapon from his hand.
Marcus roared, swinging a combat knife toward my throat. I blocked the blade with my armored forearm, twisted his arm back, and drove a brutal knee into his ribs.
CRACK.
He stumbled back, coughing up blood, but lunged again with a frantic left hook. I ducked beneath it, caught him by the back of his neck, and smashed his face into the heavy marble fireplace mantle.
Marcus crashed to the floor, gasping for air, the knife dropping from his numb fingers.
I stood over him, aiming my pistol at his forehead.
"Do it," Marcus wheezed, grinning through a mouth full of blood. "Kill me. Show your sweet little daughter what kind of monster her father really is."
I lowered the gun slightly.
"No," I said. "My daughter thinks I'm an importer who likes gardening. And that's who I am going to stay."
I looked at Arthur Cole, who was cowering under the mahogany desk.
"Your sons are currently sitting in a police precinct in Brooklyn," I told Cole. "They have already confessed to everything. The video footage from their secret server has been released to every national news outlet. By sunrise, your names will be synonymous with disgrace."
"You ruined us..." Arthur sobbed. "You destroyed our lives!"
"You destroyed yourselves when you decided that an innocent girl’s life meant nothing compared to your ego," I said.
I pulled out a small detonator and pressed the red button.
May you like
Outside, the heavy server arrays in Cole’s basement burned to ashes, wiping out every piece of leverage, every illegal file, and every financial safeguard the Trinity had ever created.
I turned around and walked out of the estate, leaving the three fallen titans sitting in the dark, waiting for the sirens that were already echoing in the distance.
