Chapter 7 - The Cost of Betrayal
The warehouse by the docks smelled of saltwater, rusting metal, and cheap cigar smoke.
Gabriel and his strike team moved through the shadows with silent, deadly precision.
Silas Mercer sat at a green felt table, surrounded by corrupt politicians and greedy bodyguards.
He was laughing, counting stacks of dirty money, believing he had gotten away with murder.
The warehouse doors blew inward with a deafening crash, ripped off their hinges by breaching charges.
Gabriel walked through the smoke, his weapon drawn and his eyes burning with vengeance.
Silas jumped out of his chair, spilling poker chips and whiskey across the floor.
"Gabriel!" Silas stammered, raising his hands in fake surrender.
"What is the meaning of this outrage?"
"You sold my brother to the Russians, Silas," Gabriel stated coldly, ignoring the panicked politicians fleeing the room.
Silas realized his lies would not save him, so he drew a hidden pistol from his waistband.
Gabriel was faster.
He fired a single shot, striking the gun from Silas's hand and shattering his uncle's wrist.
Silas screamed in agony, falling to his knees on the filthy concrete floor.
"Michael loved you," Gabriel growled, walking closer to the bleeding old man.
"He trusted you with his life, and you sold his infant son to monsters for a shipping route."
Silas clutched his ruined wrist, glaring up at Gabriel with bitter hatred.
"This empire belonged to me, Gabriel, your father stole it from me decades ago!" Silas spat.
Gabriel looked down at the pathetic, greedy man who had caused so much suffering.
"The empire belongs to no one now," Gabriel declared.
"I am dismantling it, and you are going to spend the rest of your life in a federal prison."
Gabriel signaled to Ethan, who stepped forward with a thick folder of financial evidence.
"The police are waiting outside, Silas," Gabriel said, turning his back on his uncle.
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"We gave them enough evidence to lock you away for treason, racketeering, and murder."
Gabriel walked out of the warehouse, leaving the ghosts of his family's dark past behind him.
