Chapter 2 - The Arrival
The three men moved with a synchronized, predatory silence that instantly sucked the air out of the room.
Liam, Caleb, and Julian Sterling were not men who knocked on doors.
They were men who owned the banks that owned the doors.
Ethan stumbled backward in pure shock, his face draining of all color.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ethan shouted, trying desperately to sound authoritative.
Julian, the youngest of the brothers, calmly closed the shattered remains of the front door behind them.
Caleb leaned casually against the entryway arch, his cold, dark eyes locking directly onto Ethan.
Liam, the eldest and most dangerous of the three, ignored Ethan entirely.
He walked straight across the dining room until he was standing directly in front of his sister.
Liam raised his hand and gently touched the violent red mark on Grace's cheek.
"Did he do this to you?" Liam asked, his voice dangerously low.
Grace nodded once.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees.
Ethan puffed out his chest, stepping forward to defend his territory.
"You cannot just break into my house, Liam!" Ethan yelled.
Liam slowly turned his head to look at the man he had once allowed to marry his sister.
"Your life ended the exact second your hand touched her face," Liam stated flatly.
Lauren scoffed, completely unaware of who these men actually were.
"Call the police, Ethan," Lauren ordered arrogantly.
"These thugs are trespassing."
Caleb finally pushed himself off the wall and walked slowly toward the dining table.
He stopped a few feet away from Lauren and tilted his head, studying her face with deep amusement.
"Thugs?" Caleb chuckled darkly.
He pulled a sleek silver smartphone from his tailored jacket pocket.
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"You have a lot of nerve calling anyone a thug, Victoria," Caleb said.
Lauren's arrogant smile vanished instantly, completely replaced by absolute, paralyzing terror.
