Chapter 28
Julian Mercer had thought he was clever. He had slipped away from the harbor in the chaos, accessed emergency funds, and hired the best mercenaries money could buy to destroy the man who had ruined his life. He had expected to return to the city a conqueror. Instead, he was hiding in a cheap, derelict motel room on the outskirts of the city, watching the news of the failed estate assault with sheer, unadulterated terror.
He paced the small, filthy room, his fair skin pale and sweaty, his expensive clothes long gone, replaced by cheap, ill-fitting garments. He knew Lorenzo would be hunting him.
Suddenly, the flimsy wooden door of the motel room imploded.
Julian shrieked, scrambling backward, as two massive Ravelli bodyguards stormed into the room. They didn't speak. They grabbed him by the arms, dragging him brutally out to a waiting, unmarked black SUV.
Julian was thrown into the back of the vehicle, his heart hammering violently against his ribs. He sat in terrified silence as the SUV drove deep into the industrial district, finally pulling into a cavernous, abandoned warehouse.
The doors opened, and Julian was hauled out, thrown onto the cold concrete floor.
He looked up, expecting an execution squad. Instead, Lorenzo Ravelli stood alone in the center of the warehouse. The cinematic, dramatic lighting caught the gold of his cufflinks and the lethal, sociopathic detachment in his dark eyes.
"Julian," Lorenzo said, spacing his words perfectly, keeping his volume barely above a whisper. "You are arrogant. You are stupid. And you are remarkably resilient."
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"Lorenzo, please!" Julian sobbed, groveling on the concrete. "I was angry! You took everything from me! My family, my money!"
"I took nothing from you that you did not freely forfeit," Lorenzo corrected softly. "But you tried to take my life. You tried to attack my home, where my daughter and my grandchildren sleep."
