Chapter 7 - The Council's Seal
Dominic picked up the metallic cylinder, using a dry towel to wipe away the crimson film. Etched deeply into the polished titanium was the unmistakable crest of the High Council—three intertwined daggers enclosed in a circle of thorns. But below the crest was a serial number registered to a specific safety deposit box at the Meridian Private Bank, located squarely in the city center.
"Dean didn't steal this from a rival gang," Dominic said, piecing together the fractured puzzle. "Dean was laundering money directly for the Council Chairman, Thomas Sterling. Elena wasn't Dean's courier. Who is she really?"
Viktor stepped closer, his jaw tightening. "Elena Sterling. The Chairman’s estranged daughter. The one who disappeared three years ago into the witness protection program."
The realization settled heavily in the room. Sterling hadn't just attacked Dominic's docks to eliminate competition; he had used his own daughter as a human delivery vessel to frame Dominic for her abduction and murder. If Elena was found dead in Dominic's destroyed penthouse with a Council-marked device in her body, every syndicate in the hemisphere would have legitimate cause to tear Dominic's organization apart.
Dominic walked into the panic room. Elena lay on the medical cot, her face pale as parchment, her breath weak but steady under an oxygen mask. Her eyes opened slowly, fixing onto Dominic as he approached.
"My father..." she whispered through the plastic mask. "He found me. Dean tried to hide me... but my father told him he would slaughter everyone Dean loved if he didn't bring me to you."
"Your father wanted you dead at my feet," Dominic said quietly, his voice devoid of pity, filled only with dangerous intent. "He wanted your body to be the spark that ignited this city."
Elena’s eyes filled with tears, not of pain, but of ancient, bitter hatred. "Then don't give him what he wants. He thinks I'm weak. He thinks I'm already dead."
Dominic looked down at the titanium key in his palm. It was the only leverage left that could stop Sterling from mobilizing the entire criminal underworld against him by sunrise.
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"Viktor," Dominic ordered, turning toward the door. "Prep the armored SUV. We leave through the underground tunnel. We have two hours before the sun rises, and we are going to pay Chairman Sterling a visit."
As they reached the garage below, the sound of multiple sirens began wailing in the distance, converging rapidly toward the building.
