Chapter 16 - The Syndicate's Ultimatum
By noon the following day, the Chicago underworld was in complete disarray.
Victor Marcone had survived the dock ambush, escaping by boat, but his weapon shipments were confiscated, his top lieutenant was dead, and his territories were falling like dominoes to Adrian’s men.
Yet a cornered animal is the most dangerous.
Adrian was back on his feet by two in the afternoon, against the direct orders of his surgeon. He wore a loose black linen shirt to conceal his bandages and stood in the study of Safehouse 9, staring at a courier package that had just arrived.
Inside was a single silver envelope containing a flash drive and a photograph.
I walked over and looked at the photo.
The breath left my body in an agonizing gasp.
It was a picture of my little brother, Leo, sitting in his wheelchair in the courtyard of St. Jude’s hospital, taken from less than twenty feet away through a telephoto lens. A red laser dot had been drawn digitally over his chest.
Julian inserted the flash drive into the terminal.
Victor Marcone’s voice crackled through the speakers, mocking and venomous.
*“Voss. You took my docks. You killed Dominic. But you forgot one thing: you can’t protect everyone. Midnight tonight. The top floor of the Voss Tower downtown. Come alone. Sign over your distribution corridors in the West Side, or the boy gets a bullet in the neck before breakfast. If the girl isn't with you... I’ll have my men deliver her brother’s heart to her doorstep.”*
The recording clicked off.
The silence in the room was suffocating.
Julian slammed his fist against the desk. “It’s a suicide run! He’s barricaded on the fifty-fifth floor! He’s got fifty hired mercenaries waiting to blow the elevator the second the doors open!”
Adrian didn't yell. He didn't swear.
He simply looked down at the photograph of Leo. The temperature in the room plummeted to sub-zero. The air around him seemed to crackle with an aura so lethal, so terrifying, that even Julian took a step back.
“Maya,” Adrian said softly, without turning his head.
“I’m coming with you,” I said, my voice rock-solid, devoid of tears. The fear was gone, replaced by a cold, blinding fury that matched his own. “He threatened my brother. I’m going to watch you kill him.”
Adrian slowly turned to face me. The dark fire in his eyes burned with fierce pride.
“No, Maya,” he murmured, stepping toward me and cupping my neck in his hand. “You’re not going to watch me kill him.”
He leaned down, his lips brushing against mine with absolute promise.
May you like
“You’re going to help me destroy him.”
***