Chapter 7 - Breach
The main courtyard of the Lake Forest estate resembled a war zone under the flashing red strobes of the automated security grid.
Viktor dragged a struggling, handcuffed man across the wet cobblestones toward the grand portico. The man was screaming curses, thrashing against Viktor’s iron grip.
It was Derek Vance—dressed in an expensive designer leather jacket that was now splattered with mud, his slicked-back hair matted with rain.
“Let me go, you bastards!” Derek roared, trying to plant his boots against the stone. “I know who owns this dump! Dominic Vale is a washed-up thug! That woman hiding inside stole my daughter, and I have court papers—”
The heavy oak doors swung open.
Dominic Vale stepped out into the rain.
He didn't wear a coat. The cold November drizzle slicked his dark hair across his forehead, accentuating the razor-sharp lines of his jaw. He looked like an angel of vengeance carved out of marble and sinew.
Derek stopped struggling instantly. The sheer aura of lethal menace radiating from Dominic sucked all the oxygen out of the courtyard.
Dominic walked down the stone steps slowly, his heavy shoes clicking against the wet ground, stopping just two feet away from Derek.
“You have court papers?” Dominic asked softly.
Derek swallowed hard, his bravado evaporating like morning mist. “Y-yeah. Custody agreement. She’s my ex. She ran off with my kid.”
Dominic raised his hand—and struck Derek across the face with the back of his knuckles so hard the sound echoed off the stone walls. Derek stumbled backward, sprawling hard into the mud, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the cobblestones.
“You broke into my house,” Dominic said, his voice dangerously low. “You brought armed men across my property line. You terrified a little girl who spent yesterday ironing my shirts because she thought her mother would be homeless.”
“She’s my family—” Derek screamed, trying to scramble up.
Dominic planted the heel of his Italian leather shoe squarely onto Derek’s chest, pinning him down into the freezing mud.
“She was your victim,” Dominic corrected, leaning down until his face was inches from Derek’s terrified eyes. “Now she is under my protection. Which means if you ever look at Sophia Bennett again, if you ever breathe her name, or if you even think about coming within fifty miles of this estate…”
Dominic let the sentence hang, heavy and final.
“Viktor,” Dominic commanded without breaking eye contact with Derek.
“Boss?”
“Load him into the trunk of the Mercedes. Take him to the abandoned rail yard off Route 41. Leave him there with a message: If he ever crosses state lines again, his next stop won't be a jail cell. It will be the bottom of Lake Michigan.”
“With pleasure,” Viktor grunted, hauling Derek up by his collar like a ragdoll.
As Derek was dragged screaming into the darkness, Dominic stood in the rain, breathing heavily, letting the cold water wash the adrenaline from his veins.
The threat was gone.
May you like
Now came the hard part.
Facing Sophia.
