Chapter 4 - Sins of the Father
The room felt completely silent except for the useless humming of the portable heater.
I stared at the woman I had spent one reckless night with almost a decade ago.
"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice barely a whisper against the cold.
"I am Natalia Volkov," she said, her brown eyes welling with frightened tears.
The name hit me harder than any bullet ever could.
The Volkovs were the ruthless Russian syndicate that ruled the north side of Chicago.
They were the exact people I had been at bloody war with for five long years.
"You are Viktor Volkov’s daughter," I realized, the horrifying pieces finally falling into place.
Natalia nodded, gently brushing a strand of dark hair away from Lily’s face.
"And Lily is his only granddaughter."
She explained how she had run away to protect her baby from the brutal mafia lifestyle.
"My father found out about her last month, and he sent Vanessa to wipe you out so he could claim her."
The icy venom in my blood seemed to react to the fierce anger boiling in my chest.
"Vanessa is a Volkov operative?" I asked, grinding my chattering teeth together.
Natalia looked at the sizzling hole in the rug where the poison had spilled.
"She is my father's most lethal chemist."
Suddenly, the lights in the mansion flickered violently and died, plunging us into absolute darkness.
Emergency red backup lights clicked on, bathing the bedroom in a sinister, bloody glow.
Heavy, tactical footsteps echoed from the marble staircase down the hall.
The two-way radio on my bedside table crackled to life with a burst of static.
Marcus's voice came through the speaker, breathless and strained.
May you like
"Boss, they breached the front gates, there are dozens of them."
Before I could even reply, a deafening explosion blew the heavy bedroom doors completely off their hinges.
