Chapter 6 - Harbor Shadows
Rain lashed against the rusted corrugated steel roofs of Pier 42. Fog rolled off the black harbor waters, carrying the smell of salt, dead fish, and diesel fuel. Val led the small group into the belly of an abandoned dry dock warehouse, where a single yellow halogen lamp hung swaying from the rafters.
Silas secured the side entrance with an iron bar while Sarah gently placed Mia on a stack of canvas tarps. The girl had fallen asleep from pure exhaustion, her pale face smudged with dirt.
A shadow moved at the far end of the warehouse catwalk. Four men stepped into the light, dressed in heavy wool coats and holding short-barreled automatic shotguns. In the center stood Viktor Rostova, an older man with silver hair and a face crisscrossed by scars from an old war with Val’s father.
“You have nerve coming here, Moretti,” Viktor spoke, his thick accent cutting through the rain. “Word on the street is your empire fell within an hour. Declan is auctioning your territories off to the highest bidder tonight at the Grand Continental.”
Val stepped forward into the circle of light, completely unbothered by the shotguns aimed at his chest. “Declan has no authority to sell what he hasn't killed. And I am still breathing.”
Viktor smirked, looking toward Sarah and the sleeping child. “You bring your domestic staff and a wounded pup to bargain for your life?”
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Val’s eyes flashed with lethal certainty. “I didn't come to bargain, Viktor. I came to offer you half of Declan’s syndicate if you give me twenty men and five heavy rifles.”
Viktor laughed, but stopped abruptly when Sarah calmly drew a small ceramic pistol from under her apron and leveled it directly at Viktor’s forehead.
