Chapter 7 - The Gathering Storm
Julian stepped forward, grabbing the thumb drive off the desk. "Who did you send this to, Lucas?"
"To the attorney general’s special unit," Lucas replied grimly. "Or so I thought. But my contact inside the department hasn't answered for two hours. Which means the cartel your father partnered with—the Sterling-Cole Syndicate—intercepted the transmission. They don't want Julian exposed; they want the records destroyed, along with anyone who knows they exist."
Arthur burst into the library, his coat soaked, breathing raggedly. "Julian! The front gate is compromised. Three black SUVs just breached the perimeter. They aren't law enforcement."
Julian moved with the precision of a seasoned commander. The shock of the past hour hardened into survival instinct. He looked at his two children—separated by greed, reunited in chaos.
"Arthur, the vault beneath the wine cellar. Take Clara," Julian ordered, cocking his revolver.
"No!" Clara seized Julian’s sleeve. "I spent my entire life wondering who my father was. I won't lose you fifteen minutes after finding you!"
Julian looked down at her, his expression softening with immense sorrow. "Clara, you spent your life serving this house without ever tasting its wealth. You deserve to live. Lucas, you want to avenge Eleanor? Help me buy our daughter time."
Lucas hesitated for a single heartbeat, looking from the terrified girl in the maid's apron to the man who shared his bloodline. A sudden hail of suppressed gunfire shattered the stained-glass windows of the second-story balcony.
"They're inside the east wing," Lucas shouted, unholstering a black combat pistol from beneath his trench coat. "The cellar won't hold them, Julian! They have thermite charges!"
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"Then we don't hide," Julian declared, moving toward the hallway. "We take Eleanor’s evidence and we run for the docks."
As they reached the central staircase, headlights flooded the front foyer. A heavy thud shook the entrance doors, followed by the metallic hiss of a breach charge.
