Chapter 6 - The Ultimatum
The rain had turned to sleet by midnight, hammering against the reinforced glass of Ethan’s penthouse office like a barrage of small arms fire.
Ethan sat behind his desk, reviewing shipping manifests, but his mind was entirely elsewhere. He hadn't slept in thirty-six hours. Every instinct screamed that Moretti and the council were planning their next move.
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of his office burst open.
Marcus rushed in, holding a high-security encrypted tablet, his face drained of all color.
"Ethan, we have a breach," Marcus said, his voice urgent. "Moretti didn't wait. He bypassed security protocols and sent a hit squad to the West Loop."
Ethan stood up so fast his chair crashed backward onto the floor. "Valerie?"
"They didn't hurt her," Marcus said quickly, reading off the tablet. "Our surveillance team stationed two blocks from her shop intercepted a team of Moretti’s enforcers half an hour ago before they could breach the back entrance. Our men neutralized them. But... they left a message."
Marcus tapped the tablet, projecting an image onto the smart wall behind the desk.
It was a photograph taken through the front window of Bennett’s Hearth & Pastry. On the counter, resting directly on top of the flour-dusted marble, was a silver pocket watch—Ethan’s old pocket watch, the one he had lost twelve years ago on the night he disappeared.
Etched into the back of the watch was a single word: Checkmate.
Ethan stared at the image, and for the first time in fifteen years, every drop of ice in his veins turned to liquid fire.
They had crossed the line. They had brought her directly into the crosshairs of a war she had no part in.
"Get the armored transport ready," Ethan commanded, his voice dropping into a chilling, absolute stillness that made Marcus step back in awe.
May you like
"Ethan, where are you going?" Marcus asked.
"I'm going to end the council," Ethan said, reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a heavy, matte-black firearm, checking the slide with a sharp, metallic click. "All of them. Tonight."
