Chapter 8 - The Price Of Treason
"Touch him," Julian whispered, "and I won't let you reach the police alive."
Victoria froze, her raised hand trembling in mid-air. Around her, twenty elite Mercer bodyguards took a simultaneous step forward, their black submachine guns trained dead on her chest. The socialite broke down, collapsing to her knees in the glass, sobbing not out of remorse, but out of pure, suffocating terror.
"Julian, please! My father is a senator! You can't do this to me!" she pleaded, clawing at his boots.
"Your father took five million from the Moretti syndicate to secure their port permits last winter," Julian said coldly, not even looking down at her. "Federal agents are raiding his townhouse in Manhattan right now. The Sterling family is finished. By tomorrow morning, you won't have a name, a dollar, or a single friend left in this country."
Julian waved his hand without turning around. "Take her to the basement. When the bleeding stops, hand her over to the Feds with the complete surveillance logs."
Two heavily armed guards grabbed Victoria by her arms, dragging her screaming and kicking across the slick marble floor. Her frantic shrieks faded down the service hallway until the heavy iron door slammed shut, leaving the grand foyer in total, ringing silence.
The smoke began to clear through the shattered skylights.
Nora stood in the center of the devastation, her vision swaying. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the crushing agony of three gunshot wounds was dragging her toward the floor. Her knees buckled.
Before she could touch the cold stone, a pair of strong, calloused hands caught her waist.
Julian pulled her against his chest, his arms wrapping around her with an intensity that completely bypassed his usual cold demeanor. His heart was hammering furiously against his ribs.
"I've got you," Julian breathed, his voice rough with an emotion he had buried for over two decades. "I've got you, Nora."
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👉 But Nora gently pulled back, looking down at the open velvet box Julian still held in his left hand.
***
