Chapter 8 - The Price of Loving a Dangerous Man
Lena reached the staircase before Vincent caught her.
“Stop!”
She struggled against his grip.
“That's my sister!”
“We don't know that.”
“I know her voice!”
Another scream echoed through the mansion.
Vincent released her.
“Stay behind me.”
They climbed the stairs together.
Marcus followed with four armed guards.
The east corridor was empty.
One security guard lay unconscious near Lena's bedroom.
His weapon was missing.
Vincent signaled for silence.
Then he pushed open the door.
Sophie sat on the bed.
Her wrists were bruised.
Her face was pale.
But she was alive.
Lena rushed forward.
“Sophie!”
The sisters collided in a desperate embrace.
Sophie began sobbing.
“I thought I'd never see you again.”
Lena held her tighter.
“I'm here. I'm here.”
Vincent watched from the doorway.
For one brief moment, relief softened his face.
Then Sophie whispered something into Lena's ear.
Lena went still.
“What?”
Sophie pulled back.
Her eyes filled with terror.
“They made me come here.”
Vincent stepped forward.
“Who?”
Sophie looked toward the window.
“Uncle Nathan.”
The bedroom door slammed.
A gunshot cracked through the corridor.
One guard fell.
Marcus shouted for everyone to get down.
Vincent pulled Lena and Sophie behind the bed.
Another shot shattered the mirror.
Then a familiar voice came from the hallway.
“Vincent!”
Nathan.
Vincent's expression turned deadly.
“Come out,” Nathan called. “We need to talk.”
Vincent glanced toward Marcus.
The security chief signaled that the rear passage was clear.
Vincent whispered to Lena.
“Take Sophie through the dressing room. Marcus knows the route.”
Lena shook her head.
“I'm not leaving you.”
“You have to.”
“Vincent—”
He touched her cheek.
“Your sister needs you.”
That silenced her.
She looked at Sophie.
The younger woman was trembling uncontrollably.
Lena nodded.
Vincent leaned closer.
“I'll find you.”
Then he kissed her forehead.
A promise.
Not a goodbye.
Lena followed Marcus through the dressing room.
Behind them, Vincent stepped into the corridor.
Nathan stood near the staircase holding a pistol.
Two armed men flanked him.
Vincent raised his hands.
“You've made your point.”
Nathan laughed.
“Have I?”
“Let the women go.”
“They were never supposed to be here.”
“Then why bring Sophie into my house?”
Nathan's smile disappeared.
“Because I needed you distracted.”
Vincent studied him.
“From what?”
Nathan gestured toward the study downstairs.
“The files.”
Vincent understood.
The kidnapping.
The poison.
The threats.
All of it had been designed to locate Margaret Brooks's evidence.
Nathan continued.
“You have no idea how much money is involved.”
“I know you killed my father.”
Nathan's face hardened.
“Your father was going to destroy everything.”
“So you murdered him.”
“He forced my hand.”
Vincent stared.
For fifteen years, he had defended Nathan.
Trusted him.
Shared meals with him.
Called him brother.
Now the truth stood in front of him holding a gun.
“You killed people who loved you.”
Nathan's eyes flashed.
“They loved you.”
Vincent frowned.
Nathan stepped closer.
“Your father gave you everything. The company. The estate. The family name.”
“You were his nephew.”
“I was the one who understood business!”
His voice rose.
“I built half the empire you inherited!”
Vincent looked at him with something colder than hatred.
“You could have built your own.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“With what? Your leftovers?”
Downstairs, an explosion shook the mansion.
Nathan turned.
Vincent moved.
He struck Nathan's gun arm and drove him against the wall.
The weapon fired into the ceiling.
One of Nathan's men raised his pistol.
Vincent's guards returned fire.
Glass shattered.
Smoke filled the corridor.
Nathan broke free and fled toward the rear staircase.
Vincent pursued him.
Outside, Marcus guided Lena and Sophie toward a waiting SUV.
But Sophie suddenly stopped.
“Lena.”
“What?”
“There's something I didn't tell you.”
Lena turned.
Sophie was crying again.
“Nathan said if I didn't help him, he'd kill you.”
“Help him how?”
Sophie reached into her jacket.
She removed a small black device.
A tracking transmitter.
Lena stared.
“He made me carry it.”
Marcus grabbed the device.
Then his radio crackled.
“Multiple vehicles approaching the east gate.”
Marcus looked toward the mansion.
The estate's exterior lights went dark.
A second explosion sounded.
Lena screamed Vincent's name.
Marcus pushed the sisters into the SUV.
“We have to leave!”
“No!”
“Lena, now!”
The vehicle accelerated through the service road.
Lena twisted in her seat.
Behind them, flames rose from the east wing.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Vincent.
Three words.
I love you.
May you like
Then the mansion disappeared behind the trees.
And Lena realized she might never see him alive again.
