Chapter 16
Sixteen
THE SYNDICATE STRIKES BACK
THAL
As I gazed over the crowd gathered in the opulent ballroom of my hotel, a realization dawned. Never before had so many of Las Vegas’s elite mingled under one roof.
Designer gowns shimmered as they swayed gracefully around the legs of stunning, glamorous women.
Crystal flutes caught the light, their surfaces alive with the endless sparkle of golden champagne.
The chandeliers cast a warm, amber glow over every skin tone, while sconces flickered with candlelight that danced in the eyes of the guests.
A feeling of wealth and privilege filled the air, almost tangible, like gold slipping from fingertips.
I took a slow, deliberate breath, soaking in the intoxicating scent of French perfume and underlying pretension.
A faint, knowing smile appeared on my lips as my eyes scanned the sea of familiar faces.
They all attended the charity event, a gathering planned months in advance. Politicians, casino owners, entrepreneurs, and entertainers. Each played their part in the city’s grand mosaic of ambition and influence.
The event promised unity in purpose: raising funds to fight cancer. Yet, beneath the polished veneer, wary glances and subtle exchanges hinted at a different story—one whispered beneath the surface, concealed behind their polished smiles.
All of us were waiting, each aware that something important was about to happen.
An electric tension coursed through the room like a serpent, winding its way through the crowd silently, preying on the weakest, stalking their every move.
My gaze was fixed on Aidon, who stood in the corner confidently holding court among a group of women hanging on his every word. Esme stood with another group nearby. The smirk on her face indicated she was amused by the attention Aidon was attracting.
Aidon shot a glance at Esme, and an unspoken conversation passed between them, prompting her to move in his direction.
I wondered if his intuition was ringing as loud as mine. A sense of impending doom prickled through every cell in my body, growing more intense with each passing moment.
I scanned the room for the tenth time in as many minutes, my pulse a jagged rhythm in my throat. Daphne was missing. I’d left her under a triple-guard at the penthouse, but when James called ten minutes ago, the line had been silent, except for the sound of three unconscious men hitting the floor.
She’d played me. She’d used the very “ghost” training I’d admired to slip my leash and bypass my security.
And then the air in the ballroom more than changed–it died.
I saw her.
She wasn't the girl I’d left under lock and key. She was a lethal vision in a floor-length gown of midnight silk that looked as if it had been spun from the shadows of Olympus itself.
She held a glass of champagne as if she was waiting for the right moment to toast my funeral, her eyes locking with mine in cold, terrifying clarity. She’d found the tablet. She knew I’d lied. She wasn't there as a guest but as a hunter, and the rest of these elite vultures were just in her way.
I wasn’t the only one sensing the increasing danger in the air.
At that moment, Aidon’s gaze met mine. He nodded, conveying the message: stay alert, remain vigilant, and don’t let your guard down.
Did Aidon know about Rhea’s upcoming attack? Had he received the same warning I had? We all had our sources, secrets fueling the tension that hung heavily around us.
I swept my gaze across the room, searching for Zeno. Had he uncovered my alliance with Daphne yet? The lack of any sign of him left me uncertain.
Was his silence confirmation or denial of that possibility? Every moment felt longer, with the unspoken questions lingering in the tense air.
“Everything okay?” Daphne whispered to me, her words strained through a fake smile that never reached her eyes, revealing her worry as well.
“So far,” I replied.
I longed to reach for her, pull her into my arms, kiss her, and tell her everything would be okay. But that would have been a lie, not to mention a step too far. We hadn’t discussed it, but I sensed Daphne wasn’t quite ready to make our relationship public.
It was just as well.
We had other things to worry about for now.
Daphne’s eyes widened as she looked over my shoulder, and I turned to see what had caught her attention. Zeno stood in the doorway of the ballroom, hands on his hips, flanked by two men from his security team, looking like he owned the place.
He was sorely mistaken.
This was my territory.
If I needed to put him in his place, so be it.
I glanced at my security head to ensure he was alert and was glad to see him paying close attention to Zeno as well. Zeno noticed Daphne and me. His eyes widened, then narrowed in anger.
“You’ve left the gilded cage, little bird,” Zeno hissed, his voice a low, pure poison that made the champagne in my hand feel like lead.
He didn’t even look at me. He looked at her as if she were property he was about to return to the manufacturer.
“Did you think Thalassios could protect you from a blood debt? Rhea is here to repossess her collateral, and I’m here to ensure the ledger is balanced.
You aren't a woman tonight, Daphne. You’re a payment. ”
Daphne didn't flinch. She stepped toward him as the silk of her dress shifted, revealing the slight metallic gleam of a thigh holster.
“The debt is dead, Zeno,” she said, her voice as cold as a mountain stream. “If Rhea wants a transfer, she can find me in the middle of the floor. I’m done being a line item on your ledger.”
A muscle ticced in Zeno’s jaw. His eyes flared with sudden violent rage, and his fists clenched at his sides. For a split second, I prepared to draw my weapon, fully expecting him to try to drag her out by her hair right here on the ballroom floor.
But the flash of a society photographer's camera went off ten feet away.
Under the public gaze of Las Vegas's elite, Zeno swallowed his fury. His lips curled into a terrifying, rigid smile, projecting the image of a billionaire mingling with his peers.
"We will see about that," he murmured softly, the threat aimed directly at Daphne’s throat.
Without another word, he pivoted on his heel. He stormed into the crowd, his security team swallowing him as he immediately donned his public mask to greet the mayor, biding his time.
Aidon smiled and nodded, but I could see the underlying restlessness as he gradually moved closer to us. He and Esme mingled with other guests, making small talk, and when they approached, Aidon positioned Esme next to Daphne and me.
“Looks like a successful evening,” Aidon remarked.
“Yes, of course, we met our fundraising goal,” I replied.
“Excellent work,” he said, nodding and raising his glass of champagne in a mock toast.
“It’s for a good cause,” I responded.
“It is,” he agreed. “Although it could have come at a more convenient time, couldn’t it?”
Was he suggesting that he knew?
“What do you mean by that?” Daphne asked. Aidon shrugged. “I’m confident we share the same sources.”
“The two of you look as tense as he does,” Esme commented as she leaned in, making sure only we heard her remark.
“Is it that obvious?” Daphne asked.
A slight smile touched her lips. “Perhaps it’s just because I’m aware of the threat.”
“In that case, yes, the timing could have been better,” Daphne said. “But this event has been planned for months. Hopefully, whatever is coming our way won’t arrive until this is over.”
“I agree.” Aidon scanned the room. “I’d hate for innocent people to get hurt. But considering the reputation of our shared enemies, I wouldn’t put it past them.”
“Nor would I,” I agreed. “That’s why this room is full of hired guns. Our shared enemies, as you call them, would be taking quite a risk to choose to strike tonight.”
“That’s true,” Aidon said. “What about him?”
He gestured with his chin toward Zeno.
“What about him? Whose side is he on?”
“Aren’t we all on the same side? Us against the syndicates?” I asked.
“I’m not so sure Zeno’s aware of our unspoken alliance.”
“That will only hurt him,” I replied.
The sound of breaking glass interrupted me. We all turned as a waiter dropped his tray, but it wasn’t an accident. It was a tactical sweep. He pulled an automatic rifle from beneath his jacket and chaos erupted.
Screams, shattering crystal, and the rhythmic thud-thud-thud of lead hit expensive decor.
I reached for Daphne, but she was already a blur of midnight silk. She didn't wait for a savior. She kicked a heavy mahogany chair into the lead shooter's path, a split-second distraction that saved our lives, then dove for cover behind a massive marble pillar.
“Get behind the marble, Daphne!” Zeno bellowed from ten feet away, drawing his piece as he dove toward our position.
Zeno reached us just as the first volley of glass sprayed the room like shrapnel. I hauled Daphne the rest of the way behind the massive marble pillar and used my body as a heavy shield against the debris.
For a flickering second, the three of us were a chaotic tangle of limbs and suppressed rage.
“She’s the target, Thalassios!” Zeno hissed as he reloaded his piece, eyes darting to the shooters emerging from the kitchens.
“They aren't shooting to isolate her, not kill. Rhea wants her breathing so she can collect her transfer.”
“Over my dead body,” I growled. I looked at Daphne, her dress torn, her expression lethal as she leveled her compact semi-automatic with the terrifying precision of the Ghost.
“You lied to me!” she screamed, her voice cutting through the staccato of gunfire as a bullet chipped the marble inches from her head. She didn't flinch. Her furious gaze snapped to me. “You knew the transfer was tonight! You kept me in the dark!”
She was right. I’d treated her as a liability rather than an asset, trying to be the only one holding the match, and now we were both paying the price in blood.
“I was trying to keep you alive!” I roared back, hauling her down as another spray of bullets shattered the table beside us.
We could deal with the fallout later. Right now, I needed to get her out of this slaughterhouse. Our security teams were doing their jobs, but Rhea had infiltrated my staff. This wasn’t a hit. It was a message. Loud and clear.
I ducked back behind the table and reloaded my weapon, my focus sharpened by adrenaline and anger. If we weren’t safe, Rhea wasn’t either.
The ballroom was a graveyard of broken glass and crimson-stained silk. Above us, the sprinklers hissed to life, raining cold, metallic-tasting water over the carnage, but the heat of the fire blooming in the kitchens was only getting closer.
“We’re moving! Now!” I yelled, grabbing Daphne’s hand. Her skin was slick with water and soot, yet her grip was iron. “James is at the service exit with the armored SUV!”
“The hell he is!” Zeno countered, lunging through the haze.
He grabbed her other arm, his fingers digging into the midnight silk with bruising, possessive force. For a second, we were a grotesque triangle of ownership—me holding her hand, Zeno holding her arm, and Daphne standing at the center of the wreckage.
“She comes with me,” Zeno roared, his face a mask of blood and pure genocidal rage. “She’s my ward. I’m taking her to the Olympus vault and locking the door until the city is ash. She belongs to the debt, Thalassios!”
The air was heavy with smoke and the acrid scent of cordite.
Daphne stood between us, caught in a conflict that had become deadly.
She gazed at Zeno, the man who had imprisoned her in gold for ten years.
Then she looked at me, the man who loved her enough to destroy the world but was too proud to reveal the truth.
“Choose, Daphne,” Zeno hissed, his eyes darting to the kitchen doors as they kicked open. Another wave of Rhea’s men surged through, a pack of wolves in a bloodlust.
I didn’t plead. I didn’t give her a speech. I just held her hand, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. I’d spent the past week trying to dictate her fate. Now, with the world literally burning around us, I surrendered. I let her choose which darkness she wanted to belong to.
She didn’t hesitate.
“I’m done being the prize, Zeno,” she said, her voice cutting through the chaos.
She squeezed my hand, her fingers locking tight around mine, choosing her king.
“Run.”
We pushed through the thick smoke, leaving Zeno’s furious roars behind us. As we reached the service stairs and the cold night air of Vegas hit us, I realized one thing for certain: we weren’t just fleeing from Rhea’s shooters. We were heading toward a reckoning neither of us was ready for.