Chapter 2 - The Inheritance
The name hung in the air, heavy and explosive.
Lily Rourke.
Lucas stared at the screen, his mind racing back twelve years to that rainy night behind the Cicero pharmacy.
Hannah had never told him.
She had carried his child, raised her in secret, and held onto the emergency ghost card he had slipped into her coat pocket before he vanished.
She had saved his life, and in return, he had unknowingly given her the most dangerous target on her back.
The woman in pearls, realizing exactly who she had just laughed at, began to violently tremble.
Lucas turned to face the wealthy elites sitting on the leather couches.
"This bank is closed for the day," Lucas announced, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.
No one moved.
"Vance," Lucas said, not raising his voice.
His head of security, a massive man with scars crossing his throat, stepped forward instantly.
"Clear the room," Lucas ordered.
"And make sure the woman in the pearls leaves her shoes behind; she can walk home in the mud."
The elites scrambled, abandoning their sparkling waters and dignity as Vance’s armed men ushered them toward the revolving doors.
Harold was still hyperventilating behind the counter.
Lucas reached over, snatched the black card, and gently placed it back into Lily’s small, dirty hands.
"Your mommy was right," Lucas told her, kneeling again.
"This card means you own everything in this building, and everything I have."
Lily looked at him, her emerald eyes searching his hardened face.
"Are you the wolf?" she asked softly.
Lucas froze.
"My mommy told me stories about a wolf who was very scary to bad people, but very safe for me," Lily explained.
"She said if I ever needed help, I should take the card to the big glass building and the wolf would find me."
A sharp pain twisted in Lucas's chest, a mixture of profound grief and a terrifying new purpose.
Hannah had known she was dying, and she had trusted him—the monster she saved—to protect their cub.
"Yes, Lily," Lucas choked out, pushing back the emotion threatening to break him.
"I am the wolf."
He stood up and offered his large, scarred hand to the tiny girl.
She looked at it for a second before placing her small fingers in his palm.
"Vance," Lucas called out as they walked toward the exit.
"Find out exactly what happened to Hannah Bennett."
Vance nodded, his face grim.
"And if it wasn't a natural death, boss?" Vance asked.
May you like
Lucas didn't stop walking, but his eyes grew as cold as a Chicago winter.
"Then we burn this city to the ground until we find the ashes of the men who did it."
