Chapter 15 - The Brother's Bargain
The high-definition security monitors inside the panic room showed a scene of absolute, chaotic warfare unfolding in the Caldwell mansion.
Marcus and his elite security team were engaged in a brutal, room-to-room firefight with the heavily armed syndicate mercenaries.
Priceless paintings were shredded by bullets, and ancient statues were completely pulverized into white dust.
Adrian paced back and forth across the reinforced steel floor, his mind working at lightning speed to find a permanent solution.
He walked over to the communications terminal and opened a direct, encrypted audio line to the corporate vault where Julian was being held captive.
"Julian, you pathetic coward, listen to me very carefully," Adrian barked into the microphone.
Julian’s terrified, weeping voice instantly cracked through the static of the speaker.
"Adrian, please, I can hear the gunfire up there!" Julian sobbed hysterically.
"They are here for me, you have to let me out before they breach the vault and execute me!"
Adrian leaned closer to the microphone, his green eyes burning with a dark, merciless intensity.
"I will let you burn in that vault unless you give me the exact name and location of the syndicate leader commanding this assault," Adrian demanded.
There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by a shaky, desperate breath.
"If I give you his name, he will slaughter me anyway!" Julian cried out.
"If you don't give me his name, I will remotely vent the oxygen from that vault in exactly sixty seconds," Adrian lied smoothly, without a shred of remorse.
Sterling watched Adrian from the bench, utterly horrified by the ruthless, terrifying lengths the billionaire would go to protect his family.
"Okay, okay, I will tell you everything!" Julian screamed, completely breaking under the psychological pressure.
"His name is Victor Dragov, he operates out of a massive shipping yard right on the edge of the Charleston harbor!"
"He uses the cargo containers to smuggle human trafficking victims and illegal weapons overseas!"
Adrian typed the name frantically into his secure database, watching as the intelligence files began to populate on the glowing screen.
"Marcus," Adrian called out over the tactical radio channel.
"I have the location of the enemy command center, I need you to clear the house and prepare the helicopter immediately."
"We are not going to sit here and wait for them to breach this door."
Adrian turned to look at Arthur Sterling, his expression shifting from pure rage to a calculated, dangerous calm.
"Sterling, you have billions of dollars and access to the best private military contractors on the eastern seaboard," Adrian stated bluntly.
"If you truly love this boy, you are going to help me wipe Victor Dragov off the face of the earth tonight."
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Sterling looked at Noah, who was trembling in Claire's arms, and then looked back at Adrian with a fierce, burning determination.
"Give me a phone," Sterling said, his voice completely devoid of its previous frailty.
