Chapter 7 - The Wrath of the Shadow
The crunch of Victor Marcone’s neck bones was the only sound in the vault.
Julian didn't use a gun. He used his bare, gloved hands.
He threw the head of the Marcone syndicate into the concrete wall with such violent force that the structural plaster cracked. Julian didn't stop. He stepped forward, his face completely transformed into that of a demon from the deepest pits of hell, his cold gray eyes glowing with a terrifying, unholy madness.
He systematically dismantled Victor Marcone—breaking his arms, his legs, and his ribs in a brutal, ten-second display of absolute, unrelenting vengeance.
"You touched my home," Julian’s voice vibrated through the concrete floor—a sound so low and terrifying it didn't belong to a human being. "You threatened my child. You shot my woman."
With a final, sickening twist, Julian broke Victor Marcone’s neck, letting the lifeless body drop onto the vault floor like a discarded rag.
Julian didn't look at the corpse. He instantly dropped to his knees beside Emma.
"Emma!" Julian roared, his broad hands hovering frantically over her blood-drenched shoulder.
Emma lay on her side, her breathing shallow and raspy, her face deathly pale. Yet her left arm was still wrapped tightly around Sophie, keeping the weeping little girl pressed safely against her chest.
Sophie was frantically signing with one hand against Emma's cheek.
Live! Live! Please, Emma! Live!
Emma opened her eyes slowly, her dark pupils dilated with shock and agony. She looked up into Julian’s frantic, blood-splattered face.
"She's... safe..." Emma managed to whisper, her voice barely a thread. "I didn't... let them... touch her..."
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Julian let out a ragged, broken gasp—a sound that none of his men had ever heard him make in his entire life. He reached down, carefully scooping Emma’s broad, heavy frame into his arms, lifting her against his chest as if she weighed nothing at all.
"Dominic!" Julian screamed at the top of his lungs, stepping out of the vault into the blood-stained hallway. "CLEAR THE ROADS TO PRESBYTERIAN! IF SHE DIES, I WILL BURN THIS CITY TO THE GROUND!"
