Chapter 3 - An Ultimatum in the Basement
The basement beneath Dominic’s estate was not an ordinary cellar. It was a soundproof, reinforced concrete bunker constructed to withstand a siege.
The air was frigid, smelling of damp stone, iron, and antiseptic.
Vivien was strapped to a steel chair beneath a single hanging halogen bulb. A field doctor had wrapped her broken nose in splints and stitched the deep lacerations across her cheeks. Her designer clothes were ruined, replaced by a drab grey jumpsuit. She looked up weakly as the heavy steel door slid open.
Dominic entered first, his face carved of stone. But when Nora stepped into the light behind him, wearing fresh black tactical trousers, a dark cashmere sweater, and her split knuckles neatly bandaged, Vivien let out a whimpering shriek and thrashed against her restraints.
“Keep her away from me!” Vivien screamed, her voice hoarse and broken. “Dominic, look at her! She’s not human! She didn’t even use a gun! She used the room! She used the furniture! She broke my guards in twelve seconds!”
Dominic pulled up a steel chair, turned it around, and sat down directly across from Vivien. Nora leaned casually against the concrete wall in the shadows, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Vivien,” Dominic began, his tone freezing the room. “You broke into my private residence. You assaulted my staff. You tried to murder my wife. Under syndicate law, I have the right to put a bullet between your eyes and drop your corpse onto your father’s front lawn.”
“My father will burn this city to ash if you touch me!” Vivien spat, though her bravado was paper-thin, her eyes constantly darting toward Nora. “He has the dock workers. He has the mayor’s office. He has two hundred soldiers ready to mobilize!”
“Your father is an aging relics collector who thinks he still owns the West Side,” Dominic replied smoothly. “What I want to know is how you bypassed my encrypted gate codes.”
Vivien snapped her mouth shut.
Dominic leaned forward. “You didn’t hack the system. You’re not smart enough. Someone on my inner council gave you the master override sequence. Give me the name, Vivien, and I let you walk out of here alive.”
Vivien laughed weakly, blood staining her teeth. “Go to hell, Dominic. I’d rather die than tell you.”
Before Dominic could respond, the soft sound of rubber-soled boots moved across the concrete.
Nora stepped out of the shadows.
She didn't speak. She picked up a small surgical scalpel from the doctor’s tray on the steel table. She twirled the blade between her fingers with terrifying dexterity—a display of muscle memory that only came from elite military black-ops training.
Vivien began hyperventilating. “No. No, Dom, stop her! Make her stop!”
Nora rested the flat, cold steel of the blade against Vivien’s jugular vein.
“The carotid artery is three millimeters below this edge,” Nora whispered, leaning close to Vivien’s ear. “If I nick it just right, you won’t die immediately. It takes exactly four minutes and twelve seconds. You’ll feel cold. You’ll hear your own heartbeat slowing down like an old clock. And you’ll know that nobody is coming to save you.”
“It was Thomas!” Vivien shrieked instantly, tears washing clean paths through the dried blood on her face. “Thomas Russo! He sold you out! He gave us the bypass codes in exchange for sixty percent of the dock territory once my father takes you down!”
Dominic’s jaw clenched. The missing crates at the meatpacking warehouse made sense now. The Russo brothers hadn’t lost the shipment. They had used it as collateral to buy an alliance with Arthur Vance.
Nora pulled the scalpel away and set it back on the tray with a soft click.
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She turned to Dominic. “Your operation has a leak at the highest level. If the Russos are moving against you tonight, Arthur Vance’s strike team is already deploying.”
Dominic stood up, his eyes dark with murderous intent. “Leo! Lock down the perimeter. We’re going to war.”
