Chapter 6
Corbin’s eyes swept the perimeter, taking in the tactical reality of the terrace. Twelve armed men. His father’s loyalists. The bright colors of the garden party felt absurdly surreal against the impending violence.
"If you think you are taking my daughter," Corbin said, his voice a low, lethal hum, "you are going to have to order these men to shoot me in the back. And if you miss, Orson, I will not."
"Daddy," Juniper whimpered, her small hands clutching the fabric of Willa’s dress. Willa knelt immediately, wrapping her arms around the trembling girl, placing her own body as a physical barrier between the child and the encroaching guards.
"You don't have to do this," Willa said, looking up at Orson with fierce, blazing defiance. "I already uploaded the video to a secure cloud server. If anything happens to this child, or to Corbin, that footage goes straight to the federal prosecutor's office. You’ll spend the rest of your life in a supermax prison for conspiracy to commit murder."
Orson’s eyes flicked toward Willa. For a fraction of a second, the patriarch’s supreme confidence wavered. He had not accounted for a civilian with digital leverage.
"Grab the woman's phone," Tabitha shrieked, pointing an accusatory finger. "Smash it! Take the girl!"
Two guards lunged forward.
Corbin moved faster. He drew his weapon in a blur of motion, chambering a round with a sharp, metallic clack that silenced the patio. He aimed directly at the lead guard's chest.
"Take one more step, Marcus," Corbin warned the guard, recognizing a man he had personally trained. "I put you through the academy. I know exactly how slow your draw is. I will put a hollow-point through your sternum before your hand clears your jacket."
Marcus froze, his hands raised in a gesture of surrender, his eyes darting back to Orson.
"He's bluffing," Orson ordered. "Take him down."
"I am not bluffing," Corbin stated, his gun rock steady. "Any man who moves on my daughter dies today. That is a guarantee. Now back away."
The guards hesitated. They knew Corbin’s reputation. They knew he was the most lethal enforcer the syndicate had ever produced before he ascended to leadership. No paycheck was worth challenging him at close range.
Corbin took a slow step backward, keeping his weapon trained on the men while reaching his free hand toward Willa and Juniper.
"Willa, pick her up," Corbin commanded softly. "We are walking to the garage. Stay exactly one step behind me."
Willa didn't hesitate. She scooped the four-year-old into her arms, holding Juniper tightly against her chest. She fell into step behind Corbin, using his broad, muscular frame as a shield against the twelve armed men.
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"You cannot run from the family, Corbin!" Orson shouted as they backed toward the mansion's side entrance. "If you walk through those doors, you are excommunicated. You lose the accounts, the properties, the protection. You will be a dead man walking."
"I was a dead man the day I let you near my child," Corbin replied. He kicked the heavy oak door open with his heel, ushering Willa and Juniper into the darkened hallway.
