Chapter 17
When morning broke, the news of his lieutenants vanishing at the docks reached Marcus. He exploded into a blind, destructive rage, flipping his heavy mahogany desk and hurling expensive crystal decanters against the office walls. Adrian was moving much faster and quieter than he had ever anticipated. The walls were closing in on him.
"Damn him! He is systematically destroying my network!" Marcus roared, his face purple with fury.
"Sir, we don't have the numbers to breach the estate anymore," Bruno whimpered, backing away from his unhinged boss.
"There is one last option," Marcus snarled, picking up his encrypted phone. He dialed a number he thought he would never need again.
"What do you want, Marcus?" Richard Ashford’s raspy, hateful voice answered. "My daughter is ruined, and my ribs are broken."
"Listen to me, Richard. The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Marcus persuaded, lowering his voice into a deceptive hum. "Adrian is hunting us both. If you bring your private army to the estate tonight, I will guarantee you half of the Hale territory. Do we have a deal?"
May you like
A tense silence hung over the line before Richard let out a dark, vindictive laugh. "Open the west gate tonight. I am going to burn that arrogant bastard alive and take everything he loves." Marcus ended the call, a wicked smile creeping across his wrinkled face. "Tonight, the Hale empire gets a new king."
Chapter 18 Night descended upon the sprawling city, bringing with it a torrential downpour and deafening cracks of thunder. The Hale estate stood like an impenetrable fortress on the hill, deceptively quiet and entirely unlit. But beneath the cover of the violent storm, dozens of heavily armed mercenaries crept through the soaked woods. Richard Ashford, driven by pure, blinded vengeance, led the assault force toward the perimeter. "Check your suppressors," Richard hissed into his radio, wincing as the pain in his shattered nose flared up. "Marcus promised to blind the security cameras on the west wing in exactly two minutes." "Sir, are we sure we can trust that old snake?" his lead commander whispered cautiously. "He is merely a pawn," Richard sneered, wiping rain from his eyes. "Once Adrian is dead, I will put a bullet in Marcus myself. Prepare to breach the gate." Deep underground in the estate’s tactical command center, Adrian sat in a leather chair, casually swirling a glass of expensive bourbon. He watched the monitors as the cameras purposely flickered and died. "They took the bait, Boss," Leo reported through the earpiece. "Unlock the gate," Adrian commanded coldly. "Let them walk right into the garden. Then, lock them inside. I want absolutely no survivors tonight."
