Chapter 29 #2
"I fall into their trap because of the money. I think I can escape them, but they find me in Jersey City. They... they kill Arav. They murder my son, Tessa. This is the last thing I will ever say to you. I want you to know the truth before it is too late. Please... please forgive your aunt..."
A sharp, deafening crack shatters the heavy silence of the loading dock.
Tessa does not even have time to scream before a second crack follows in less than half a second. Two heavy-calibre bullets tear through the darkness with mathematical precision, striking Nisha directly in the skull.
Nisha’s eyes go completely wide, the words of her apology freezing on her lips. Her body goes entirely limp, collapsing forward onto the concrete floor as a dark, thick pool of crimson begins to expand outward from beneath her head.
Tessa lets out a piercing, blood-curdling scream, her hands flying to her ears as she stumbles backward.
Before the echo of her scream can even fade, the heavy steel service doors burst open. Lucius rushes out first, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated fury, with Alex, Victor, and Teajun flanking him with drawn weapons. They realize she is missing the moment the restroom check comes back clear.
"Tessa!" Lucius roars.
He does not waste a single second looking at the corpse on the floor.
He lunges forward, catching Tessa just as her knees give out and her vision begins to turn black.
Without a word, he scoops her up in a tight, protective bridal style, pulling her body flush against his chest to shield her from the gruesome sight.
Lucius shoots a lethal, questioning glance toward Victor.
Victor steps over the expanding pool of blood, his face entirely devoid of emotion.
He kneels beside Nisha’s body, his long fingers lightly tracing the entry wounds before tilting his head toward the broken upper window of the warehouse.
His analytical, deeply unhinged mind immediately calculates the trajectory of the bullets.
"Sniper," Victor murmurs, his voice chillingly calm.
"Long-range rifle. High-calibre. The shooter is positioned on the rooftop across the alleyway."
"Get the cars ready. Now," Lucius orders, his voice vibrating with a dangerous, low resonance that signals the arrival of a monster.
He carries Tessa out through the side exit, refusing to let her feet touch the ground.
He lays her gently across the leather backseat of the armoured Phantom, sliding in right beside her.
Olivia and Emily scramble into the vehicle immediately after, their faces pale with shock, while Teajun—the inner circle's brilliant medical mind with degrees spanning multiple continents—sits directly across from them.
Teajun instantly grabs Tessa’s wrist, pressing his fingers against her pulse point while checking her pupillary response with a small medical light.
"Her pulse is dangerously elevated, but she’s stable," Teajun reports, his voice cutting through the panic like a scalpel. "It’s a severe psychological shock. She needs a controlled environment immediately."
Back inside the penthouse lobby, the elevator doors open again, and Ralph steps out, a glass of amber liquid in his hand.
He looks down at the flashing police lights beginning to gather outside, a cold, mocking expression on his face.
Ralph and his associates know exactly what kind of mess is brewing; they know about the hit, but they purposefully keep Lucius in the dark to protect their own interests.
Victor stands near the shadows of the alleyway, his eyes fixed on the rooftop across the street.
He pulls out his secure phone, dialling their lead hacker.
"Tell me where the motherfucker goes," Victor hisses into the receiver, his voice dropping into the tone of a seasoned hunter.
"Track the traffic cameras within a three-block radius. I want to know why these bastards are systematically eliminating every single person who tries to help Tessa or Lucius—first the court witness, now the aunt. Give me the coordinates."
The phone buzzes with an incoming data stream.
The moment the hacker drops the live location of the getaway vehicle, Victor does not wait for backup.
He pockets his phone, sprints toward a random, high-powered motorcycle parked near the curb, hotwires the ignition within seconds, and roars out into the dark streets, chasing the sniper into the neon abyss of the city.
The rest of the convoy tears away from the penthouse, heading directly toward Alex’s highly secured private penthouse downtown.
Inside the study, Lucius stands by the floor-to-ceiling windows, his chest heaving as a toxic mix of guilt and rage burns through his veins.
He looks toward the bedroom where Emily and Olivia are watching over a sleeping Tessa.
For the first time in his life, Lucius feels a fracture in his own armour.
He promises her that she will be safe with him.
He swears that no one can touch her under his watch.
The weight of that broken promise feels like an anvil crushing his lungs.
He becomes a monster so that no one can ever harm what belongs to him, yet a ghost from the past has just reached out from the shadows and shattered his peace.
"I do not care where he is hiding," Lucius whispers, his voice dangerously quiet as he turns to face Alex.
His eyes are completely dark, filled with a promise of total annihilation.
"Whether he is in the deep ends of Brooklyn or buried inside Jersey City... I want him found. I want to destroy everything he has ever touched. I want Alessio Gambino’s entire empire turned to ash."
Alex steps forward, placing a firm, steadying hand on his brother’s shoulder. "We are right here with you, Lucius. Do not worry. We have the best hackers in the country, we have the connections, and we have the firepower. He crosses the line. Tonight, we start the hunt."
~