Chapter 8 - The Aftermath
The shockwave of the explosion threw me violently backward.
I crashed onto the wooden planks of the pier.
Deafening ringing filled my ears as thick black smoke blocked out the morning sun.
Viktor was completely gone.
I slowly forced myself to stand up.
My ribs screamed in agony, and blood dripped from my forehead.
I had no time to assess my injuries.
Vincent was waiting for me at the old shipyard.
I limped to Viktor’s surviving speedboat and hotwired the ignition.
The engine roared to life.
I steered the boat out into the freezing waters of the East River.
I sped toward the abandoned Moretti shipyard on the edge of the city.
This was the exact place where my empire had begun.
Now, it was going to be a graveyard.
I docked the boat silently under a rusted pier.
I climbed up the metal ladder, keeping to the deep shadows of the shipping containers.
The rain had stopped, leaving a heavy, suffocating fog over the shipyard.
I saw a dozen armed Romano guards patrolling the perimeter.
I moved like a ghost, taking down two guards silently with my knife.
I took their spare ammunition and a heavier assault rifle.
I crept toward the main warehouse building.
I looked through a dirty glass window.
Maya was tied to a steel chair, bleeding from a severe head wound.
Lily was locked inside a chain-link cage in the center of the room.
Vincent stood over Maya, holding a suppressed pistol to her temple.
Vanessa sat on a leather couch nearby, checking her makeup in a compact mirror.
I kicked the warehouse door open and stepped inside.
I pointed the assault rifle directly at Vincent.
I told him the war ended right now.
Vincent smiled and slowly lowered his gun from Maya’s head.
He looked at me with an expression of pure, chilling pity.
He told me I was completely wrong.
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Vincent pressed a button on a remote control in his pocket.
The heavy metal doors of the warehouse suddenly slammed shut, locking us all inside together.
