Chapter 5 - The War for Lincoln Park
Through the darkness creeping into her vision, Sarah summoned every ounce of strength left in her body. She raised her right foot, wearing a heavy leather-soled shoe, and drove her heel down with absolute force onto Julian’s instep.
CRACK!
Julian shrieked in pain as the small bones in his foot gave way. His grip on her throat loosened for a split second.
Sarah slammed her elbow hard into his nose. Blood erupted from Julian’s nostrils, blinding him as he stumbled backward, clutching his face and cursing violently.
"Paulie!" Sarah screamed at the top of her lungs, her raw throat burning. "Paulie! Security!"
Down in the grand foyer, the heavy oak entrance doors were thrown open with a thunderous crash.
Ethan Vance walked into the mansion, flanked by Paulie and four heavily armed enforcers. He was wearing a dark charcoal overcoat, returning early from his New York flight.
He took in the scene in half a second—Sarah leaning against the balcony railing, holding her bruised throat, blood dripping onto the carpet, and Julian standing five feet away with a bloody nose and an encrypted drive clutched in his hand.
The temperature in the grand foyer plummeted to absolute zero.
Ethan didn't yell. He didn't run. He walked up the grand marble staircase with a terrifying, deliberate slowness that made the air itself feel heavy with impending death.
"Ethan..." Julian gasped, backing away until his spine hit the mahogany door of the study. "Ethan, listen to me! She was in your study! I caught her trying to steal from your computer! She's a spy for the Genovese family!"
Ethan reached the top of the landing. He didn't even look at Julian.
He walked directly to Sarah, placing his broad, warm hand gently against the side of her neck, inspecting the red, angry fingerprints bruised into her soft skin. His thumb traced her cheekbone with infinite tenderness.
"Did he touch you anywhere else?" Ethan asked softly. His voice was calm, but his icy blue eyes were blazing with a cold, apocalyptic fire.
"The... the computer," Sarah rasped, pointing a shaking finger at Julian. "He plugged a blue drive into your terminal. He was transferring the ledger files. I took photos..."
Paulie walked up the stairs, picked up Sarah's phone from the bottom step, reviewed the screen, and held it out to Ethan.
"It's all here, Boss," Paulie said coldly. "Clear shots of Julian at the terminal."
Ethan slowly turned his head to look at his cousin.
Julian fell to his knees on the carpet, tears mixing with the blood pouring from his broken nose. "Ethan! Please! They threatened my family! The Commission forced me! They offered me fifty million for the shipping manifests! Ethan, we're blood!"
"Blood?" Ethan whispered, stepping closer to his kneeling cousin. "You laid your hands on the woman who saved my children. You put your fingers on her throat in my house."
Ethan pulled a sleek, silver-plated automatic pistol from his shoulder holster. He didn't hesitate. He racked the slide with a clean, metallic clack.
"Ethan, no!" Sarah gasped, grabbing his forearm.
Ethan froze. He looked down at Sarah’s small hand gripping his coat sleeve.
"Don't do it in front of the house," Sarah pleaded, her hazel eyes searching his face with desperate intensity. "Don't bring that violence here, Ethan. Please. For Leo and Maya. For me."
Ethan stared at her for three long, agonizing seconds. The lethal fury in his blue eyes fought against the gentle, desperate plea in hers.
Slowly, Ethan lowered the weapon. He engaged the safety and slipped the gun back into his holster.
He looked at Paulie.
"Take him to the basement at Pier 42," Ethan commanded, his voice cold as arctic ice. "Strip him of his assets, his titles, and his name. Hand him over to the federal prosecutors along with the Genovese wiretaps. Let him spend the next forty years in a federal supermax facility."
"No! Ethan, please! Not federal prison! Kill me! Just kill me!" Julian screamed, sobbing hysterically as Paulie and two massive guards dragged him down the marble stairs and out into the storm.
When the doors closed and silence returned to the mansion, Ethan turned back to Sarah.
May you like
Without saying a word, he reached out, pulled her gently against his chest, and wrapped his arms around her. Sarah buried her face in the warm crook of his neck, letting out a long, trembling breath as the adrenaline finally left her body.
"I've got you," Ethan murmured into her hair, his strong arms holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world. "You're safe, Sarah. I promise you, no one will ever hurt you again."
