تسجيل الدخول“Get Lucas on the line now!”Maximilian’s roar ripped through the heavy static of the encrypted channel, his grey eyes blazing with an unholy, lethal fury that seemed to shake the cold stone walls of the subterranean cellar. He didn’t drop his weapon, keeping the barrel locked on Victor’s chest, but his broad frame vibrated with a terrifying, primal panic.Through the dashboard monitor of the transport, I stared at the photo of our master suite. Cold sweat broke out across the back of my neck, making my sweater cling to my skin like ice. My hands dropped back onto my stomach, fingers digging into the fabric as my breath came in short, jagged gasps.“Boss! We have a breach at the main house!” Lucas’s voice shattered the speaker, laced with a rare, suffocating panic as heavy gunfire popped wildly in the background. “The west perimeter sensors were wiped out from the inside! Someone bypassed the biometric grid!”“Where is he, Lucas?” Maximilian growled, his raspy voice dropping into a da
“Give me a name, Richard, or I will peel your son’s skin off inch by inch before this night is over.”Maximilian’s voice didn’t shake, but the dangerous, freezing chill in his tone made the damp air inside the subterranean cellar feel bone-dry and heavy as lead. He didn’t lower his matte-black sidearm by a single millimeter.The barrel remained locked squarely on Victor Hale’s chest, his broad knuckles stark white against the grip, every muscle in his towering frame coiled like a heavy steel trap waiting to snap shut.In the cellar, Victor merely tilted his head, the pale blue light of the projector flickering against the jagged silver scar on his cheekbone. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t run. He smiled with the quiet, terrifying confidence of a man who knew he held the final, bloody piece of a puzzle we had been trying to solve for years.“A name?” Richard’s raspy chuckle rattled through the static-laced intercom, dry as dead leaves dragging across concrete. “Why settle for a name, Blac
“Six years. I spent six years chasing shadows across Europe, and you were hiding under the floorboards of the man you murdered.”Maximilian didn’t raise his voice, but the sheer, suffocating weight behind his words made the cold air in the subterranean transport bay feel thick as lead. His matte-black sidearm remained trained squarely on the center of Victor Hale’s chest, his broad knuckles white against the grip, his posture a coiled spring waiting to release lethal violence.Through the clear monitor screen on the dashboard, I stared into the face of the monster who had taken my father’s breath.My knuckles turned stark white as I gripped the edge of the leather dash, my nails digging through the stitching. A bitter, burning nausea surged up my throat, but I forced my eyes to stay wide, soaking in every detail of the long silver scar running across his eyebrow.“It wasn’t personal, Blackridge,” Victor said, his tone smooth, almost conversational, as he took a slow, deliberate step f
“Look at the floorboards under your boots, Blackridge. That dark stain in the stone isn’t water.”Richard’s voice dripped through the ancient intercom like battery acid, every syllable crackling with a cold, hysterical malice.Inside the subterranean war room, my fingers dug into the edge of the leather dash until my knuckles turned stark white. Through the high-definition feed on the monitor, I watched the camera on Maximilian’s shoulder tilt downward. The beam of his tactical flashlight swept across the damp cellar floor, illuminating a wide, dark discoloration soaked deep into the porous stone.My breath hitched, a lump of sharp, suffocating ice forming in my throat.“Emery, close your eyes,” Maximilian’s voice rasped through the comms line. He didn’t turn toward the speaker. His weapon remained raised, sweeping the dark shadows of the vaulted cellar, his posture an immovable wall of Kevlar and steel. “Don’t look at the feed.”“I’m not closing my eyes,” I choked out into the comms
“If you die tonight, Maximilian, I’m burning that clearing vault to the ground myself.”The words slipped out as a quiet, jagged whisper, cutting through the low rumble of the twin-turbo V8 engine.Maximilian didn’t break his stare from the rain-slicked mountain road winding into the valley, but his broad, calloused fingers tightened over mine. His grip was an iron anchor—hot, steady, and possessing an unyielding strength that kept the cold terror from completely paralyzing my chest. The heavy, armored SUV bounded over a deep rut, its darkened bulletproof glass dampening the sound of the howling wind outside.“I have no intention of dying, sweet girl,” he rasped, his voice dropping into a deep, gravelly register that vibrated straight through my palm. “Not when I still have a nursery to build.”Beside the road, thick, ancient pine trees pressed close, their dense branches casting long, skeletal shadows across our hood under the pale moonlight. We were miles deep into the forgotten wes
“He’s going back to the beginning.”Maximilian’s voice didn’t carry the roar of command or the icy bite of war. It fell into the quiet hum of the underground war room like a heavy, cold stone dropping into a dark well.I paused, the roll of medical tape still resting between my fingers. The antiseptic smell on my hands mixed with the sharp scent of rain clinging to his dark shirt. I looked into his eyes, tracing the fresh bandage secured along his jawline.“The beginning?” I whispered, my heart taking a slow, heavy thud against my ribs. “What do you mean, Maximilian?”“The old Donovan estate in the western valley,” he answered, his broad hands remaining firmly anchored over my hips, holding me close against his chest. “The property your father abandoned twenty years ago, right after your mother died.”A cold shudder ran straight down my spine, making the hair on my arms stand on end. “The valley house? Why would he go there? That place has been abandoned for two decades. The roof is c



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