Chapter 13 - The Desperate StrikeNathaniel Sterling was a man unaccustomed to losing. When his calculated, corporate blackmail failed in the boardroom, he did not retreat. He escalated.
A cornered predator does not care about the rules of engagement.
It was Thursday evening. The sky over Chicago was bruised with heavy, dark storm clouds. Elena was at the foundation’s downtown office finalizing a new housing grant, and I was at the townhouse with Sofia.
Sofia was sitting on the living room rug, carefully constructing a massive tower out of wooden blocks. I was sitting on the sofa, answering emails on my tablet, enjoying the quiet domesticity of the moment.
My phone rang. It was David, my attorney.
"We have a massive problem," David said, his voice entirely stripped of its usual calm. "Nathaniel just bypassed the courts entirely. He bought out the private security firm that guards Elena’s office building."
I stood up instantly, my heart slamming against my ribs. "What?"
"I just got a tip from an insider," David rushed out. "Nathaniel ordered the security cameras in the building to be taken offline for 'maintenance' ten minutes ago. He sent a private extraction team. They are heading up to her floor right now. He’s going to take her to force your hand on the trust."
The tablet slipped from my fingers, shattering against the hardwood floor.
"Send my men," I roared into the phone. "Send everyone!"
I hung up, dialing Elena’s number. It went straight to voicemail.
The monster I had kept caged for a year tore through the bars. I didn't care about redemption. I didn't care about the light. If Nathaniel Sterling laid a single hand on the woman I loved, I would paint the streets of Chicago with his blood.
I called my personal security chief, Marcus. "I need an armored vehicle at the townhouse right now. And I need a team at the foundation building. Lethal force is authorized."
I picked up Sofia, who looked at me with wide, confused eyes. I carried her to the kitchen, handing her to Maria, our live-in nanny, whose face paled when she saw the look in my eyes.
"Lock the doors. Do not open them for anyone but me," I commanded.
I ran out into the pouring rain. The armored SUV was already waiting, tires screeching as I threw myself into the passenger seat.
"Get me to the foundation," I barked at the driver.
The ten-minute drive felt like an agonizing eternity. My mind raced with horrifying scenarios. The man who had promised to protect her was miles away while men with guns breached her sanctuary.
When we skidded to a halt outside the massive glass skyscraper, the lobby was dark. The power had been cut.
I pulled my weapon from the holster at the small of my back—a weapon I had sworn to Elena I would never carry again. I kicked the front glass doors open, ignoring the shattered glass raining down around me.
"Elena!" I shouted into the cavernous, dark lobby.
The silence was deafening. I moved toward the stairwell, my heart pounding a frantic, terrifying rhythm. I bounded up the concrete stairs, bypassing the dead elevators, my lungs burning as I reached the fourth floor.
I kicked the heavy fire door open, my gun raised, ready to execute anyone standing in my way.
The hallway was dimly lit by emergency backup lights.
And sitting calmly on a leather bench outside her office, holding a heavy, iron fire extinguisher in her lap, was Elena.
She looked up at me, her white blouse slightly rumpled, a smudge of dirt on her cheek, but completely unhurt.
I lowered the gun, my entire body shaking with a wave of overwhelming relief. I dropped the weapon and ran to her, falling to my knees in front of the bench, burying my face in her stomach, wrapping my arms desperately around her waist.
"You're safe," I choked out, tears mixing with the rain on my face. "Thank God, you're safe."
Elena ran her fingers through my wet hair, her touch steady and anchoring.
"I told you," she whispered softly. "You don't always have to save me."
I pulled back, looking at her, then glancing down the hallway. Two massive men dressed in black tactical gear were lying unconscious on the floor near the elevators.
"What happened?" I asked, completely awestruck.
"They cut the power," Elena said, her eyes flashing with that unyielding fire. "But they forgot that I designed this floor. I know every blind corner. When they breached the door, I didn't run. I waited behind the reception desk."
She patted the heavy iron fire extinguisher in her lap.
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"They never looked up," she said, a small, fierce smile touching her lips. "I called the police five minutes ago. Nathaniel’s men are going to wake up in federal custody."
I stared at the woman I loved. She wasn't just a survivor. She was a queen who knew exactly how to defend her own castle.
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