Chapter 4 - The Confrontation in the FoyerThe atmosphere in the grand foyer plummeted into a freezing, apocalyptic cold in less than half a second.
Adrian didn't turn his body quickly. He slowly straightened his broad six-foot-three frame, turning his dark gray eyes toward Harrison Vance with a lethal, absolute stillness that made Harrison’s four security guards instantly reach for their holsters.
"Leo," Adrian spoke softly.
"Don Adrian?" Leo answered from the shadows near the staircase.
"Disarm them," Adrian ordered flatly.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
Before Harrison’s guards could even touch their weapons, four suppressed rounds from Moretti marksmen posted on the upper balcony punched cleanly through the shoulders and knees of the four guards. The men collapsed flat onto the marble floorboards, groaning in agony as their weapons clattered across the tile.
Harrison Vance stumbled backward against the mahogany balustrade, his face draining completely of color, his hands shaking violently.
"Moretti...! Please!" Harrison stammered, taking three frantic steps back. "I... I was just asking about the Pier 19 shipping leases! The Moretti-Vance alliance—"
"The alliance is terminated, Harrison," Adrian interrupted deadpan, every word dropped into the quiet hall like a heavy block of cold granite. "Because twenty minutes ago, my cyber-forensics team acquired eighty-five percent of the primary debt mortgages on your shipping terminals."
Harrison gasped, his jaw sagging open in total, speech-bound horror. "You... you bought my debt bonds?!"
"I bought your debt bonds, Harrison," Adrian revealed flatly. "And more importantly... you just raised your voice in my home in front of my guest."
Adrian took three slow, deliberate steps toward Harrison Vance, stopping two inches from the trembling man’s face.
"Get out of my house, Harrison," Adrian commanded softly, his baritone laced with a terrifying, unyielding mortality. "Before I turn your terminals into a public park."
Harrison didn't offer another word. He turned his back on the foyer, scrambling out through the iron doors in total, groveling defeat, leaving his four injured guards to be dragged out by Leo’s team.
The grand foyer fell back into a deep, peaceful quiet.
Adrian turned around slowly, walking back across the Persian rug until he stood before me once more. His dark eyes searched my face, checking my shoulders, my arms, and my posture with a quiet, intense concern.
"Did he frighten you, Mara?" Adrian asked softly.
May you like
I looked up into his handsome, carved face, a sudden, radiant smile breaking across my lips for the first time in my life.
"No, Adrian," I answered softly, reaching out my hand to rest against his solid chest. "I told you... I'm not afraid."
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