Chapter 7 - The Lion Awakes
Inside the penthouse of the Wren Tower, the phone on Cassius's desk rang.
Cassius answered on the second ring, holding the receiver to his ear in silence.
"Wren," Victor Vance's taunting voice came through the line. "I have your little friend. He's sleeping comfortably in an empty shipping container at Pier 14. You have twenty minutes to bring me the signed deeds to the Wren Casino, or the kid feeds the fish."
Cassius didn't yell. He didn't slam his fist on the desk. His body went completely motionless, his eyes darkening to a shade of icy slate.
"Vance," Cassius said softly, his voice dangerously low. "You made one mistake."
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Vance laughed.
"You assumed the kid was my weakness," Cassius whispered. "He's not my weakness. He's my purpose."
Cassius hung up the phone. He stood up, pulled a brass key from his vest pocket, and unlocked the hidden steel cabinet behind his desk. Inside hung a black tactical leather coat and two customized silver handguns he hadn't touched in ten years.
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Marcus stepped into the room, holding a radio unit. "Boss, the strike team is ready. We have forty men lined up."
"Tell them to stay here," Cassius ordered, sliding the handguns into his shoulder holsters. "This isn't syndicate business. This is personal."
