Chapter 4 - The War at the Gates
Peace in my world is always an illusion.
Three days after Julian Vance was arrested, the retaliation came—not from the law, but from the men who had backed Julian from the shadows. The Moretti Syndicate, Chicago’s oldest rival family, had used Julian’s foundation as their primary money-laundering conduit. By destroying Julian, I had inadvertently cut off a fifty-million-dollar annual pipeline.
It was two in the afternoon when the sirens began echoing from the perimeter of the estate.
I was sitting in my private office on the ground floor, reviewing security reports, while Nomi sat on the leather sofa across from me, reading an art history journal.
BOOM.
A heavy explosion shook the foundation of the house, rattling the crystal chandelier overhead. Dust rained down from the ceiling.
Nomi dropped her book, jumping up in terror. "Tristan?!"
In a single fluid motion, I opened my desk drawer, pulled out two heavy combat pistols, and racked the slides. "Stay down!" I ordered, pulling her behind my reinforced steel desk.
"Boss!" Marcus burst through the office doors, his tactical vest covered in drywall dust, a submachine gun clutched in his hands. "It’s Moretti’s men! They breached the south gate with a armored transport! They have at least twenty shooters!"
"How did they bypass the outer cameras?" I demanded, pushing Nomi gently beneath the desk framework.
"Inside job—Julian’s old security detail leaked our entry codes!" Marcus shouted back as automatic gunfire began tearing through the front courtyard, shattering the heavy glass windows of the main lobby.
I turned to Nomi. Her eyes were wide with terror, her hands trembling as she held onto my jacket sleeve.
"Nomi, listen to me," I said, grabbing her face gently with both hands. "There is a panic room behind the bookshelf in the master bedroom. Marcus will take you there right now."
"No!" she cried out, tears instantly filling her eyes. "I'm not leaving you! They came because of what you did to Julian! This is my fault—"
"This is not your fault!" I roared over the sound of incoming gunfire. "This is my war! And I need you alive, Nomi! Do you hear me? If you die, nothing I built matters!"
I kissed her forcefully on the lips—a desperate, fierce promise sealed in fire and smoke.
"Go with Marcus," I commanded, pulling back. "Now!"
Nomi looked at me, her lip trembling, then gave a firm nod. "Don't you dare die, Tristan Hayes. Do you hear me? Don't you dare leave me alone!"
"Never," I promised.
Marcus grabbed her, shielding her with his body as they sprinted out the rear access corridor toward the private living quarters.
May you like
Once they were gone, the gentle man who had held Nomi in the dark vanished completely. The monster took full control.
I stood up straight, stepped out into the grand marble hallway, and raised my weapons as the front doors were kicked off their hinges.
