CLAIMED BY THE SHADOW BILLIONAIRE

Hector stepped deeper into the drydock, his combat boots echoing ominously against the cracked concrete. The flashlight in his hand illuminated Damian, who immediately positioned his body between Elena and the weapons, rising slowly to his feet.

"You're like a cockroach, Hector," Damian said, his voice flat and deadly despite being unarmed and half-naked. "You always scurry out when the lights go down."

"And you're surprisingly hard to kill, Blackwood," Hector sneered, gesturing with his shotgun. "Arthur told us your boat went up in flames. He assumed you were fish food. But I know you too well. You don't die easy, and you certainly don't let your prized possessions drown."

Elena stood behind Damian, her hands trembling as she pulled the coat tighter around herself. "Hector, please. The ledger is already out. Damian uploaded it to the international authorities. It's over! Your bosses are finished!"

Hector chuckled, a dry, grating sound. "You think Castiglione cares about naval tribunals? Those bureaucrats will take months to file an indictment. In that time, forty cargo ships will empty their holds and vanish into private ports. But you, Elena... you’re personal."

"What does Castiglione want with me?" she demanded. "Leo is dead!"

"Leo didn't steal that ledger for the government, sweet girl," Hector revealed with a vicious grin. "Leo stole fifty million dollars inbearer bonds from Castiglione's private vault before he ditched that ship. He hid the deposit access codes in that watch you're wearing around your neck."

Elena’s hand flew to her chest, but the chain was empty. The watch had been destroyed in the boat's optical scanner.

"The watch is at the bottom of the bay, Hector," Damian stated coldly. "Along with your money."

Hector’s smile vanished, replaced by a mask of rabid fury. He raised his shotgun, leveling it directly at Damian’s head. "Then you're both useless to me. Arthur offered a five-million-dollar bounty for your head, Damian. And as for Elena... the brothels in Tangier will pay handsomely for a pretty nurse with no family left to look for her."

"Touch her," Damian growled, his voice dropping into a register of primal menace, "and I will tear your throat out with my bare teeth."

"Big words for an unarmed man in an abandoned shed," Hector laughed, resting his finger against the trigger. "Say goodbye to your bride, Blackwood."

CRACK!

A single high-caliber sniper round tore through the corrugated metal roof, passing through Hector’s shoulder with devastating force. Hector screamed, dropping his weapon and collapsing backward as blood sprayed across the floor.

Before his enforcers could react, flashbang grenades cascaded through the broken skylights, detonating in blinding bursts of white light and deafening thunder.

Black tactical operatives in night-vision goggles rappelled down from the rafters like shadows. Gunfire erupted in short, controlled bursts, dropping Hector’s men within four seconds of brutal precision.

A familiar figure in combat fatigues stepped through the main entrance, lowering a suppressed assault rifle.

"Marcus!" Elena gasped, tears of relief flooding her eyes.

Marcus nodded respectfully, his face covered in soot. "Apologies for the delay, Mr. Blackwood. The tracker on your watch led us straight to the shipyard."

Damian didn't look at Marcus. He strode forward to where Hector lay groaning on the floor, clutching his shattered shoulder. Damian picked up Hector’s dropped combat knife, flipping the heavy steel blade in his hand.

"Wait, Damian!" Elena called out, running to his side, catching his bare arm. "Don't do it! Don't become like them!"

Damian paused, his chest heaving, his eyes burning with lethal intent. He looked down at Elena’s pleading face, then back at Hector. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he buried the blade deep into the wooden pillar half an inch from Hector’s ear.

"Bind him," Damian commanded Marcus coldly. "Put him in the cargo hold. We're flying to Zurich tonight."