Chapter 11 - The Serpent in the Family and the Final Betrayal
The sight of Roman bleeding on the marble tore the air from my lungs. “Sofia, open the door!” I screamed. “He’s hit! We have to help him!”
“I have my orders, Evelyn!” Sofia said, her eyes fixed on the tactical screen, her jaw set like stone. “If I open this door, Bennett gets you. Roman’s sacrifice means nothing if you die!”
On the screen, Julian Bennett walked slowly toward where Roman knelt, blood pooling beneath his knee. Bennett sneered, kicking Roman’s fallen weapon across the polished floor.
“Look at the great Roman Carter,” Bennett’s voice came through the audio feed, distorted by static. “Brought to his knees over a woman. You gave away our routes to the feds, Roman. You destroyed thirty years of our families’ work... for what? A girl from Queens and a brat in her belly?”
Roman raised his head, blood dripping from his lip, his dark eyes burning with pure venom. “You should have stayed in New York, Julian.”
“Why? So I could watch you hand our empire to the DOJ on a silver platter?” Bennett laughed coldly, leveling his pistol directly at Roman’s forehead. “Where is she, Roman? Tell me which vault she’s in, and I’ll make your death quick. Otherwise, I’ll find her myself, take the baby, and leave her in a ditch.”
A cold, terrifying silence hung over the monitor.
Roman didn't flinch. He didn't beg. A slow, bloody smile spread across his face.
“You always were an idiot, Julian,” Roman whispered into his collar mic. “You thought I fought you in the foyer because I was trapped.”
Bennett frowned, his finger tightening on the trigger. “What?”
“Sofia,” Roman spoke calmly into the radio. “Detonate the secondary charges in the courtyard pillars.”
Sofia didn't hesitate. She flipped open a protective cover on her wrist console and slammed the red ignition switch.
The entire mountain shook. A deafening roar echoed through the stone structure as the exterior support pillars beneath the foyer balcony collapsed in a calculated demolition. Tons of reinforced concrete and heavy stone crashed down directly onto Bennett’s strike team, crushing his reinforcements in an instant.
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The blast wave threw Bennett off his feet.
In that split second of chaos, Roman lunged forward. Drawing a backup blade from his boot, he tackled Bennett to the floor before the rival boss could recover his firearm.
