Chapter 12 - The Defiance of Leo
The world slowed to a crawl. The rain pounded against the gravel like lead shot.
Lucas’s finger curled around the trigger. He smiled at Julian, savoring the agony on his brother's face.
""Say goodbye, Julian,"" Lucas purred.
Suddenly, Leo didn't cry. He didn't beg. With a sudden, explosive movement, the eight-year-old boy drove the sharp, jagged brass corner of his grandfather's antique pocket watch directly into the eye socket of the mercenary holding him.
The guard screamed in agony, dropping the boy and clutching his bleeding face.
""Maya, run!"" Leo screamed at the top of his lungs, tackling his sister around the waist and rolling both of them under the iron chassis of a massive hydraulic crane counterweight where adult bodies could not fit.
Lucas cursed, his aim broken. He swung his weapon toward the crawlspace, but Julian had already closed the distance.
Driven by an animalistic fury, Julian covered the twenty yards in seconds. He threw his entire body weight into Lucas, tackling his older brother off the wooden gangway and crashing both of them into the salt-crusted concrete pier below.
The gold gun flew from Lucas’s grip, skittering across the wet stone and plunging into the dark, churning harbor water.
""You soft, pathetic fool!"" Lucas snarled, driving his elbow into Julian’s injured back where the stained glass had cut him.
Julian gasped in pain, but the memory of the past seven years of lies fueled a rage that drowned out the physical agony. He grabbed Lucas by the lapels, lifting him and slamming him against the rusted hull of the shipping container.
""I built that company!"" Julian roared, driving a brutal punch into Lucas’s jaw. Blood sprayed from his brother's mouth. ""I kept this city alive while you hid like a rat in the shadows!""
Lucas spat blood, lunging forward with a hidden ceramic blade drawn from his sleeve. The knife sliced through Julian's forearm, opening a deep gash. Julian didn't flinch. He trapped Lucas’s wrist, twisted it with bone-breaking force until the blade dropped, and drove his fist into Lucas’s throat.
Lucas collapsed to his knees, gasping for air, clutching his crushed windpipe.
Above them on the yacht, Catherine’s composure finally shattered. ""Kill him!"" she screamed to her remaining personal guards. ""Shoot them all! Now!""
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The guards raised their weapons, but before they could squeeze a single trigger, the harbor around them erupted into blinding blue and red strobe lights.
A deafening siren tore through the storm.
