Chapter 4 - The Predator Awakens
Cade struggled against the iron grip of the enforcers, his face turning a deep, angry shade of red.
“Let me go!” Cade shrieked, kicking his legs against the marble pillar. “Do you know who my father is? Sterling Dunore will have your head on a spike by morning!”
Emmett didn't flinch.
He slowly turned his head toward Cade, his gray eyes narrowing into razor-thin slits.
“Sterling Dunore is currently sitting on the sixth floor waiting for me to sign away his remaining corporate shares,” Emmett said smoothly, his voice dangerously calm. “Which means by five o’clock this evening, Sterling Dunore won't even own the chair he’s sitting on—let alone this building.”
Cade’s eyes widened in sheer horror.
“You—you’re buying the whole portfolio?” Cade stammered.
“I am,” Emmett replied.
He turned his back on Cade, focusing his complete, unwavering attention on me.
“Open the drawer, Miss Vance,” Emmett instructed quietly.
My hands trembled as I slid open the top drawer of the reception desk.
I reached beneath the stack of blank company envelopes and pulled out the small black memory card.
I held it out toward him on the palm of my shaking hand.
Emmett looked down at the card.
Then he looked up into my eyes.
“Is this what he was trying to steal from you?” Emmett asked.
“Yes,” I whispered. “It contains the financial records of the accounting fraud that framed my father three years ago.”
A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the lobby.
Gio Traumante whistled softly from across the room.
Emmett’s jaw tightened, a muscle ticking violently along his jawline.
“Your father was Thomas Vance?” Emmett asked, his voice dropping an octave.
“You know him?” I asked, my breath catching.
“Everyone on the waterfront knew Thomas Vance,” Emmett said softly. “He was an honest accountant in a city built by thieves. They destroyed him because he refused to cook their books.”
He reached out, his warm, rough fingers gently closing my trembling hand around the memory card.
“Keep it safe,” Emmett commanded gently. “You won't have to hide it anymore.”
Suddenly, the elevator doors at the end of the lobby chimed.
The doors slid open.
Sterling Dunore—the senior executive of the company, dressed in an expensive bespoke gray suit—stepped out into the lobby, accompanied by his corporate legal counsel.
Dunore looked around the room, taking in the scene with an arrogant smirk.
“What is the meaning of this commotion?” Dunore barked, walking toward us. “Mr. Castellano, we have a contract to sign upstairs. Release Mr. Branick immediately.”
Emmett slowly turned around to face the executive.
The air in the lobby grew so cold I could see my own breath in the fading winter light.
“Mr. Dunore,” Emmett said, his voice dripping with lethal elegance. “I believe we have some unfinished business regarding your employees.”
Dunore sneered, folding his arms across his chest.
“That girl is a thief and an insubordinate clerk,” Dunore snapped, pointing a finger directly at me. “Fire her, throw her out into the sleet, and let's sign the acquisition papers.”
Emmett stared at Dunore for a long, agonizing moment.
Then, a slow, terrifying smile spread across Emmett’s face.
“Gio,” Emmett called out without breaking eye contact with the executive.
“Boss?” Gio responded instantly.
May you like
“Lock down the building,” Emmett ordered coldly. “Nobody leaves. And bring me the corporate financial ledgers from the sixth floor. It’s time to audit the entire operation—starting with the men who murdered Thomas Vance.”
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