Chapter 12 - The Iron Matriarch
“Victoria,” Julian spat the name like poison, stepping fully into the doorway to shield Elena from view.
“Lower the gun, Julian,” Victoria Vance said, her voice dripping with aristocratic disdain. She casually gestured to the two operatives behind her, who raised their suppressed submachine guns with clinical detachment. “Dr. Silva did what any sensible grandfather would do. And now, you will hand over the micro-drive and the ledger, or this entire apartment block will burn before the local police even finish their morning coffee.”
Elena stepped out from behind Julian’s broad shoulder, her chin held high, the silver serpentine key dangling deliberately from her fingers. “You’re after this, aren’t you, Victoria? You spent twelve years looking for my father, but all you really wanted was the key to his offshore accounts.”
Victoria’s icy blue eyes shifted to Elena, lingering on the key. “You have your mother’s arrogance, Elena. She thought she could run away from our family’s obligations too. Look how well that turned out for her.”
A red-hot flare of fury ignited in Elena’s chest. “You had my mother killed.”
“Your mother made a fatal calculation,” Victoria shrugged, stepping over the threshold into the room. “She believed that blood mattered more than power. In the Vance family, blood is merely currency. Hand over the drive, and I might let you live in obscurity in some forgotten corner of South America.”
Titan stepped forward, planting his massive paws between Elena and the intruders. His lip curled back, exposing yellowed, dagger-like teeth, a deep, continuous growl vibrating through the floorboards.
Victoria frowned, her eyes flickering to the scarred mastiff. “That filthy beast should have been put down twelve years ago.”
“Titan remembers the scent of the person who put a bomb in his master’s car,” Elena said, her voice dead and steady. “Don't you, boy?”
Titan’s muscles bunched.
Victoria’s eyes widened slightly. “Kill the dog.”
The operative on the left shifted his barrel downward. Before he could squeeze the trigger, Julian fired through his jacket pocket, hitting the first operative in the throat.
Titan launched himself at the second man, slamming him backward into the hallway wall with a sickening crunch. Victoria screamed, stumbling back as Julian grabbed Elena’s arm, hauling her toward the fire escape at the back of the apartment.
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“Run!” Julian shouted.
Elena looked back down the hallway. Victoria had scrambled to her feet, pulling a compact pistol from her designer handbag, aiming directly at Julian’s unprotected back.
