Chapter 1 - The Wolf at the Door
The three violent thuds against the front door echoed through the small house like gunshots. Clara flinched, her eyes wide with a primal, suffocating terror. She instinctively curled her body around the lavender bundle in her arms, shielding our newborn daughter from whatever nightmare stood on the porch.
I didn't ask questions. The billionaire CEO who demanded data and risk assessments vanished, replaced entirely by a father who had known his child for less than sixty seconds. My blood turned to ice, and then to boiling lead.
"Go to the back room," I ordered, my voice dropping to a low, lethal register I barely recognized. "Lock the door. Do not come out unless it’s me."
"Julian, no, you don't understand—" Clara pleaded, her voice trembling.
"Go!" I hissed, gently but firmly pushing her shoulder toward the hallway.
She turned and fled, the soft floorboards creaking under her weight. I waited until I heard the heavy click of the bedroom lock. Then, I turned my attention to the front door. The silhouette of a massive figure loomed through the frosted glass.
I didn't look for a weapon. I was the weapon. I unlatched the deadbolt and ripped the door open.
Standing on the porch was a man wrapped in a heavy wool overcoat, snow dusting his broad shoulders. He had the cold, dead eyes of a predator. I recognized him instantly. It was Victor, the chief "fixer" for Richard Sterling—my former mentor and the only man in the corporate world I considered a legitimate enemy. Sterling was a ruthless venture capitalist who had tried to execute a hostile takeover of Vance Innovations a year ago. I had crushed him, stripped him of his board seat, and humiliated him globally.
"Mr. Vance," Victor said, his voice like gravel grinding together. His eyes flicked past me, scanning the living room. "What a touching family reunion. Mr. Sterling sends his regards."
"Sterling is going to need more than regards when I’m finished with him," I stepped into the threshold, blocking his view entirely. "If you take one step into this house, Victor, I will ensure they never find enough of you to bury."
Victor smiled, a grotesque twisting of his scarred lips. "You always were arrogant, Julian. But you don't hold the cards anymore. We know about the child. Sterling wants the patent for the neural-link network. You sign it over by midnight, or my team comes back. And next time, I won't bother knocking."
He reached inside his coat. Instinct took over. I didn't wait to see if he was drawing a gun or a document. I lunged forward, driving my palm upward into his chin with every ounce of rage in my body. His head snapped back with a sickening crack, and he stumbled backward down the snowy steps.
Before he could recover, I slammed the door shut, threw the deadbolt, and pulled my phone from my pocket. I hit the speed dial for Marcus, my head of personal security.
"We are compromised in Evanston," I barked the second he answered. "Sterling’s men are here. I need an extraction team in three minutes, heavily armed. Prepare the Aston for evasion."
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"Copy that, Boss. Three minutes," Marcus replied, his tone chillingly calm.
I sprinted toward the back bedroom. The nightmare hadn't just found me; it had found my family. And I was going to burn Richard Sterling’s empire to the ground.
