Chapter 3 - The Panic Room
I stepped directly in front of Hannah, shielding her and the baby from Elena's weapon.
My mind raced as I stared at the woman I had planned to marry.
"You orchestrated the entire Vanguard merger," I realized aloud.
Elena kept the suppressed pistol aimed perfectly at my chest.
"Your family has controlled the city's shipping ports for three generations," she replied casually.
"Vanguard needed those ports for our international smuggling operations."
She gestured with her free hand toward the terrified maid trembling behind me.
"Julian figured out what I was doing and tried to stop me."
"He was a brave idiot, but he was no match for a coordinated syndicate strike."
My hands curled into tight fists at my sides as pure rage flooded my veins.
"You killed my brother," I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
Elena rolled her dark eyes and sighed.
"I tried to kill him, but he was incredibly resourceful," she admitted.
"He survived the car bomb and vanished into the underground."
"We only tracked him down a month ago, and trust me, he was very eager to talk after a few days of torture."
My heart slammed against my ribs as the impossible reality set in.
Julian was not dead.
He was currently being held captive in a Vanguard black site.
"I am going to tear you apart," I promised her.
Elena laughed cruelly and signaled for her heavily armed guards to move forward.
"You are going to sign the merger documents right now, Leo," she commanded.
"If you refuse, I will shoot the baby and then execute your pathetic brother."
She severely underestimated the security measures I had installed in my own home.
I reached behind my back and pressed a hidden biometric scanner embedded in the doorframe.
A massive, deafening siren shattered the tension in the hallway.
The lights instantly cut out, plunging the entire wing into pitch-black darkness.
Thick titanium blast doors rapidly descended from the ceiling, separating the hallway into isolated sections.
I grabbed Hannah by the arm and pulled her backward into the secret panic room hidden behind the bedroom wall.
The heavy steel door slid shut and locked just as Elena's guards opened fire into the dark.
The sound of bullets ricocheting off the titanium walls echoed violently through the mansion.
Emergency red lighting flickered on inside our tiny, heavily fortified sanctuary.
Hannah collapsed onto the steel floor, sobbing hysterically while clutching Grace.
I quickly accessed the panic room's internal communication terminal.
"Vincent, I need an immediate tactical extraction from the east wing panic room," I said into the radio.
There was a long hiss of static before a voice finally answered.
May you like
"I am sorry, boss, but Vincent is currently tied to a chair in the basement," a cold, unfamiliar voice replied.
"And since you locked yourself inside a steel box, we are just going to pump poisonous carbon monoxide through the ventilation shafts."
