Chapter 13 - Bloodline Severed
Julian reached the gun, his bloody fingers wrapping around the grip. But before he could lift it, Dominic's heavy combat boot came down on his wrist, crushing the bones with sickening finality. Julian screamed, releasing the weapon as tears and sweat mixed on his pale face.
""Dominic, please!"" Julian gasped, rolling onto his back and staring up at the barrel pointed directly between his eyes. ""We're brothers! The same blood! Morozov gave me no choice—he was going to destroy our family!""
""You sold Elena out,"" Dominic said, his voice terrifyingly calm. ""You tried to slaughter the woman who carried my child. You traded our family's honor for a throne you were never fit to hold.""
""A child?"" Julian's eyes widened in genuine bewilderment. ""What child? Elena was alone!""
""She wasn't alone. She was protecting my daughter from you.""
Dominic slowly squeezed the trigger.
Click.
The magazine was empty.
Julian let out a desperate, manic laugh, scrambling backward against the wall. ""You don't have the stomach for it! Even now, you can't kill your own flesh—""
Dominic dropped the empty rifle, drew the combat knife from his tactical harness, and stepped forward without breaking stride. He didn't blink. He didn't hesitate. With one swift, devastating motion, he drove the blade through Julian's shoulder, pinning him firmly to the wooden wall behind him, completely neutralizing his movement.
""Death is too easy for you,"" Dominic growled into his brother's ear. ""You're going to live long enough to watch me dismantle Morozov's empire with the files Elena gave me. And then I will hand you over to the federal authorities as the architect of every crime this syndicate ever committed.""
Julian wept openly, unable to move, trapped by the cold steel.
Dominic turned his back on his brother, scooped Elena back into his arms, and walked out into the pale morning light.
He carried her to the SUV, placing her in the passenger seat and reclined the chair, wrapping her in a warm emergency blanket. He engaged the ignition and sped away toward the mountain lodge.
As the car climbed the winding forest road, Dominic reached for the satellite phone to check the remote surveillance cameras at the lodge.
The screen flickered on.
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The heavy cedar door of the safehouse had been kicked off its hinges. The emergency security sensors were flashing red.
Inside the ransacked living room, Maya was nowhere to be seen.
