The Shared Hell

​The silence that followed the blackout was more deafening than the screaming wind. Liam moved faster than I thought possible for a man of his stature. He was at the balcony railing in a heartbeat, his roar of "Security!" shaking the very glass of the penthouse.

​I stumbled toward the edge, my lungs refusing to take in air. "Mia? Leo!"

​The balcony was empty. Forty stories above Manhattan, there was nothing but the cold, indifferent glow of the city below. My knees gave out, and I collapsed onto the freezing stone. They were gone. My vibrant, loud Mia and my silent, fragile Leo.

​"They couldn't have just vanished!" I screamed, turning on Liam. I grabbed the lapels of his expensive suit, shaking him with a strength born of pure madness. "You said this was a fortress! You said they were safe here!"

​Liam didn't pull away. For the first time, his eyes weren't icy; they were wide with a raw, jagged terror that mirrored my own. His hands came up, gripping my shoulders—not to push me, but to steady both of us.

​"The service elevator," he rasped, his voice cracking. "The override codes... someone had the internal codes."

​Behind us, Eleanor was standing by the table, her face a mask of pale fury. She wasn't crying; she was calculating. Vanessa, however, was trembling, her eyes darting toward the gold dagger still pinned to the table.

​"Liam," Eleanor said, her voice regaining its iron chill. "Call the Commissioner. Now. We lock down the island."

​"No." I spun around, pointing at the note. "Read the words, Eleanor! 'The debt isn't paid until the blood is returned.' This isn't about money. This is about you."

​I snatched the dagger from the table. The blade was cold, the hilt embossed with a crest I didn't recognize—a snake devouring its own tail.

​Liam took the knife from my hand, his eyes darkening as he studied the mark. "The Moretti crest."

​"Moretti?" I whispered.

​"A rival family," Liam said, his jaw working. "My father... he made a deal twenty years ago. I thought it was settled. I thought they were wiped out."

​"It appears your father’s 'settlements' were as sloppy as your mother's 'logistics,'" I spat, the adrenaline finally overriding my grief. I looked at the signature on the table again. "You signed that paper, Liam. You authorized the separation. Is this part of the settlement too? Giving up a child to pay a debt?"

​Liam looked at the signature, then at me. "I didn't sign that, Nora. I swear on my life. I was twenty-seven, I was arrogant, but I would never—"

​"He’s telling the truth, Nora," a new voice spoke from the doorway.

​We all turned. Martha, the maid, was standing there. But she didn't look like a maid anymore. She held a suppressed pistol in her hand, pointed directly at Eleanor.

​"Martha?" Liam breathed.

​"My name is Sofia Moretti," she said, her voice dropping the servant's lilt for a thick, cultured Italian accent. "And your mother didn't just separate twins, Liam. She stole them. My brother was the doctor who delivered them—Dr. Aris was his alias. Your mother had him killed to keep the secret of 'Project Gemini' hidden."

​My head spun. The web was deeper than I ever imagined.

​"Where are my children?" I demanded, stepping toward the gun. I didn't care if she shot me. "If you hurt them—"

​"They are safe for now," Sofia said, her eyes softening only for a second when she looked at me. "My family doesn't kill children, Nora. We return what was stolen. You want your children? Then you have to give us the one thing the Sterlings value more than blood."

​"Anything," Liam said instantly. "Take the company. Take the accounts."

​Sofia laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. "We don't want your money, Liam. We want the Ledger. The real one. The one your mother keeps in the safe-room—the one that lists every bribed judge, every silenced witness, and the true cause of my brother’s death."

​"Liam, don't listen to her!" Eleanor barked. "She’s a terrorist!"

​"Shut up, Mother!" Liam roared. He turned to Sofia. "I’ll get you the ledger. Just tell me where they are."

​"The old shipyard. Pier 47. You have one hour," Sofia said. She looked at me. "Bring the girl’s mother. No police. If I see a blue light, the 'Project Gemini' files go public, and the children go into the harbor."

​She backed into the shadows of the hallway and was gone before Liam could move.

​The room fell into a frantic, deadly energy. Liam sprinted toward his office, and I followed, my heart a frantic drum.

​"You're coming with me," Liam said, grabbing a heavy handgun from a hidden drawer in his desk. He looked at me, his eyes burning with a desperate, newfound resolve. "Nora, I didn't know. I swear to God, I didn't know about the signature. But I'm going to get them back. Both of them."

​"If you're lying to me, Liam," I said, my voice as sharp as the dagger, "I'll kill you myself before the Morettis get the chance."

​"Fair enough," he replied.

​Forty Minutes Later: Pier 47

​The rain had turned into a freezing sleet. The shipyard was a graveyard of rusted metal and rotting wood. Liam and I stood at the end of the pier, the wind whipping my hair across my face.

​A single spotlight flickered on from inside a warehouse.

​Two small figures were silhouetted in the doorway. Mia and Leo. They were sitting on a crate, huddled together.

​"Mommy!" Mia’s voice echoed across the water, thin and terrified.

​"Don't move, baby!" I cried out.

​Liam stepped forward, the heavy leather ledger in his hand. A man stepped out of the shadows behind the children—a tall, scarred man who looked like he had crawled out of hell.

​"The ledger, Sterling," the man shouted.

​Liam held it up. "The children first."

​The man smirked. "You don't dictate terms here. Throw it over, or the boy goes first. After all, he’s the only one you cared about, right?"

​Liam looked at Leo, then at Mia. He looked at me, and for the first time, I saw a tear track down his face.

​"I was wrong," Liam shouted, his voice cracking. "I cared about the empire. I was a monster. But they aren't heirs. They're my children! Take me instead!"

​The man laughed. "How touching. But I think I'll take the ledger and the heirs."

​He raised a weapon.

​"No!" I screamed, lunging forward.

​But someone else moved faster.

​Leo, the silent boy who hadn't spoken in years, suddenly stood up. He didn't run. He didn't cry. He stepped in front of Mia, spreading his small arms wide to shield her.

​"No," Leo whispered. Then, louder, a scream that ripped through the night: "NO! DADDY!"

​The word 'Daddy' hit Liam like a physical force.

​At that exact moment, a red laser dot appeared on the scarred man's forehead.

​Crack.

​The man slumped over. But he wasn't the only one who fired.

​From the shadows of the warehouse, a second shooter—one we hadn't seen—pulled the trigger.

​I watched in slow motion as the bullet headed straight for the children.

​"NO!" Liam screamed, throwing himself across the distance, his body a human shield.

​The bullet has been fired. Liam has thrown himself into its path. Does he survive his first act of true fatherhood, and who is the second shooter hiding in the dark?