Chapter 13 - The Innocent Eye
Dominic’s blood ran cold.
Without hesitating, he pulled the trigger, silencing the mercenary forever, and spun toward the stairs. "Vincent! The safe room! Report!"
The comms channel returned only a high-pitched hiss of static.
"Mercer, cover the rear terrace!" Dominic roared, taking the stairs three at a time. The physical trauma that had held him hostage for years was entirely forgotten; every neuron in his brain fired with a father's primal desperation.
He reached the third-floor hallway. The heavy reinforced steel door to the master panic room was slightly ajar.
Dominic kicked it open, his weapon raised, sweeping the room.
The safe room’s secondary security cameras were smashed. On the floor lay Vincent, bleeding heavily from a blunt blow to the skull, groaning in semi-consciousness.
In the corner, backed against the wall, Clare stood holding an iron fire poker, her clothes disheveled, her knuckles white. Ellie was huddled behind her mother’s legs, trembling, her face buried in Clare's skirt.
A tall figure stood near the open balcony window, cloaked in an elegant grey wool trench coat, unaffected by the rain sweeping in through the open frame. His silver hair was swept back neatly. His pale-blue eyes caught the dim moonlight.
Gabriel Reyes.
"Dominic," the old man said, his voice cultured, resonant, and disturbingly warm. "You really do move quite well now. I must admit, my idiot pawn of a brother-in-law completely bungled the execution of your knee sabotage. It was meant to make you a permanent invalid, not give you a puzzle to solve."
Dominic stepped between Gabriel and the women, the barrel of his .45 leveled dead-center at Gabriel’s forehead.
"Take one breath toward them," Dominic hissed, "and I paint that wall with your brain."
Gabriel chuckled softly, completely unbothered by the gun six feet from his face. "You could shoot me, Dominic. But you won't. Because if my heart stops beating, the thermal trigger embedded in my chest will instantly detonate the four C4 charges my boys placed beneath the foundation of this wing before your men even realized we were on the grounds."
Clare let out a ragged sob. "Father... please. Leave her alone. She's a baby!"
Gabriel didn't look at Clare. His gaze remained locked on Ellie. "She is not a baby. She is the future of our dynasty. Four billion dollars, Dominic. An empire that makes your little mafia sandbox look like children playing with mud. And all she has to do is step onto my helicopter and place her thumb on a scanner."
From behind Clare's legs, Ellie peeked out.
Her wide, tear-filled eyes didn't look at Gabriel's face. They traveled down his expensive grey coat, down to the cuff of his right sleeve.
"Daddy Dom..." Ellie’s small voice piped up, quivering but distinct.
"Don't speak, sweetheart," Dominic said through gritted teeth, his eyes never leaving Gabriel.
"Daddy Dom, look at his hand," Ellie whispered, her finger pointing straight at Gabriel's right wrist. "The shiny watch... it doesn't have any hands. It just has a little red light that blinks when he steps on the rug."
May you like
Gabriel’s aristocratic smile froze.
***
